MEDITATIONS 

IN 

BIBLE LANDS 

& & By D. A. SOMMER & & 




Published by 
OCTOGRAPHIC REVIEW 

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA 




Copyright 1910 

BY 

D. A. SOMMEE 



£ CU278692 



PREFACE 



ROM childhood I have loved ancient history, 



and always said that if I ever had the 



A chance, I would visit the historic scenes of 
the ancient world, especially the lands of the Bible. 
A few years ago the way opened for me to go ; and 
knowing that I should probably never get another 
chance to visit the historic scenes of the Old World, 
I determined to see ajl that I could which would be 
of value to me in my studies. We spent nearly six 
months on the trip, visiting Scotland, England. Bel- 
gium, France, Germany. Switzerland, Italy, Sicily, 
Greece. Constantinople, Smyrna. Palestine and 
Egypt. The modern scenes in these places we 
paid little attention to. but spent our time on the 
points of historic interest. The student of history 
who tries to see in his foreign travel as much as pos- 
sible with limited means, finds that six months of 
such effort is hard work, both physically and men- 
tally, and he is extremely glad when it is over and 
his face is turned toward his native shore. The ex- 
cessive use of the singular number of the pronoun 
of the first person, must not be taken as egotism on 
the part of the writer, but rather as a desire to 
avoid that false modesty which confuses the mind 
by the indiscriminate and untruthful use of the edi- 
torial "we." The illustrations in the book are 
nearly all taken from post-cards which were pur- 




iv 



PREFACE. 



chased near the scenes they portray. I had not in- 
tended to publish an account of my travels, but 
after lecturing many times on Palestine, and after 
being asked why I did not put the talks into book 
form, I decided to try to make a useful volume for 
the people. The purpose of this little book is to 
throw light upon the Scriptures by what is seen in 
Palestine today, and to stir the heart of the reader 
by meditations at the places where happened the 
events so dear to the followers of Christ. That it 
may accomplish this purpose and be the means of 
advancing the Master's Kingdom, is the earnest 
prayer of the author. 



CONTENTS 

Preface. 

Index of Illustrations. 

Chapter I— Tyre, Sidon and Damascus 1 



Chapter II— Ephesus 9 

Chapter III — Corinth 16 

Chapter IV— Athens 22 

Chapter V— Paul's Trip to Rome 30 

Chapter VI— Rome 38 

Chapter VII— The Colosseum at Rome. . 45 
Chapter VIII— The Land of the Pharaohs 53 
Chapter IX— Palestine in General.... 66 

Chapter X— Mt. Carmel 70 

Chapter XI— Nazareth 75 

Chapter XII— Cana and Sea of Galilee. . 82 
Chapter XIII— Bethsaida, Chorazin and 

Capernaum 88 

Chapter XIV— Mt. Tabor, Nain, Endor, 

Shunem, Jezreel, Mt. 

Gilboa and Samaria .... 93 
Chapter XV— Shechem, .Mt. Ebel, Mt. 

Gerizim and Jacob 's 

Well 98 

Chapter XVI— Joppa 104 



Vi CONTENTS. 

Chapter XYII— Bethlehem and Hebron.. Ill 
Chapter XVIII— Jericho, the River Jordan 

and the Dead Sea 118 

Chapter XIX— Environs of Jerusalem. . .129 
Chapter XX — General View of Modern 

Jerusalem 135 

Chapter XXI— The Site of the Temple . . . 141 
Chapter XXII— Place of Christ's Death 

and Burial 148 

Chapter XXIII— The Mount of Olives and 

the Garden of Gethsem- 

ANE 152 

Chapter XXIV— The Wailing Place of the 

Jews 157 

Chapter XXV— Mohammedanism .163 

Chapter XXVI— Christianity of the First 
and Twentieth Cen- 
turies Compared 174 

Chapter XXVII— The New Jerusalem 186 



INDEX OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

"Look Upon Zion, the City of Our Solemni- 



ties" (Isa. 33 :20.) .Frontispiece 

Damascus Page 6 

Ephesus . . 11 

Corinth 18 

Athens 27 

Mt. Vesuvius 35 

Roman Forum 41 

Colosseum 46 

Christians Dying in the Arena 51 

Pyramid and Sphinx 55 

Remains op ' ' On " 57 

Hall op Columns at Karnak 61 

Nazareth 77 

Tiberias and Sea op Galilee 83 

Bethlehem 113 

One of the Pools op Solomon 115 

Bethany . 119 

The River Jordan 122 

The Dead Sea 125 

Pool of Hezekiaii 133 

The Mosque of Omar 144 

The Wailing Place of the Jews 158 

Mohammedans in the Desert 167 

The New Jerusalem 189 



I 

TYRE, SIDON AND DAMASCUS 

WHO THAT is a student of the Bible and 
believes that it is the Word of God, has 
not longed to visit the lands where have 
lived the patriarchs and prophets and apostles, and 
where has lived and taught and died the Son of 
God? For two thousand years, we may safely say, 
that the central city of the world has been — Jeru- 
salem. For a thousand years before Christ, it was 
the capital city of the Jewish nation, through 
whom God chose that the Messiah should be born. 
It was in the land of Palestine, the ancient Canaan, 
and in the city of Jerusalem, that occurred the 
greatest tragedy among men, — the death of Jesus 
Christ upon the cross for fallen man. It was in this 
city that the risen Lord said to his apostles, "All 
authority hath been given unto me in heaven and in 
earth. Go ye therefore and make disciples of all 
the nations." These apostles went out in obedience 
to their Lord, and as a result of the labors through 
their tongues and pens, the nations of the world are 
looking across at the little land and city from which 
their religion came. And so you wish to know some- 
thing of the lands of Bible lore ? Come, then, and 



2 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



let us walk and muse together, among the ruins of 
the cities, and on the hills and in the valleys and by 
the lakes and streams, of those places where 
preached and wrote and suffered the inspired men 
of old. 

Perhaps the logical place for us to begin our nar- 
rative is with Jerusalem and Palestine, but as our 
outline is Bible Lands in general, we have decided 
to begin with those which are remote from Canaan 
proper. What better plan can we pursue than to 
follow the Apostle Paul and visit the places he 
touched in his journeys, and note. the things which 
are to be seen along the route ? Let us, then, make 
our way to Damascus, the city near which he was 
converted. 

Beyrout is the seaport at which you land when 
making your inland journey to Damascus. It was 
not famed in antiquity and is not mentioned in the 
Bible, though now it is the most important com- 
mercial town in Syria. It is situated in that nar- 
row strip of country anciently known as Phoenicia, 
which lies just north of Palestine and which forms 
with it the extreme eastern border of the Mediter- 
ranean, or Great, Sea. The ancient Phoenicians 
were compelled to be a sea-going people, because 
the Lebanon Mountains, a few miles back from the 
sea, hemmed them in. Hundreds of years before 
Christ, the vessels of these people entered every 
important port of the Mediterranean Sea. It is 
said that they were very ingenious, and that they 
invented the very alphabet which I am using in 



TYRE, SIDON AND DAMASCUS. 



3 



these words I am writing to you. Tyre and Sidon 
were the chief cities in Phoenicia, and are several 
times mentioned in the Old and New Testaments. 
Hiram was King of Tyre in the days of Solomon, 
and furnished him with cedar and fir trees with 
which to build the temple. Jesus was in the bor- 
ders of Tyre and Sidon when the Syrophenician 
woman came to him and wished her daughter 
healed. 

But we must start for Damascus, which is 
about ninety miles from Beyrout. It is well that 
our engine is fitted for mountain climbing, for 
when we reach the top of the Lebanon Mountains 
we are between eight and ten thousand feet above 
the sea, from which we have just come. Yea, at one 
time we even see clouds below us. 

Our train pushes on through the Lebanon range 
of mountains, and after a while we begin to de- 
scend into a beautiful and fertile valley, on the 
other side of which is the range of mountains 
known as the Anti-Lebanon, terminating in the 
southeast in Mt. Hermon, more than nine thousand 
feet high. In this valley is the city of Baalbek, 
called by the Greeks Heliopolis, or city of the sun, 
an ancient town, but not mentioned in the Bible. 
It is famous today because of its magnificent ruins 
of ancient temples ; and most visitors who come this 
way stop to view the remains of departed glory. 
Of the ruins of one of these world-renowned tem- 
ples, six huge columns sixty feet high still stand, 
and can be seen for miles in the surrounding coun- 



4 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



try. But the important thing about this place is 
the large stones in the wall which surrounds these 
temples. Three of these stones are about the same 
size, and are about sixty-four feet long, thirteen 
feet high and thirteen feet thick. The quarry from 
which they were taken is about a mile away. The 
weight of each of these stones is estimated at four- 
teen hundred tons. And a very remarkable thing 
is that these stones have been placed in a founda- 
tion which is already twenty-three feet high. The 
question comes to us, How did these people move 
these huge stones over a mile and elevate them into 
this foundation? With our steam and electricity 
and modern appliances, can we do that work? Per- 
haps we can ; but I assure you that we would not 
consider it a small task. The fact that these people 
moved these gigantic stones without our modern 
machinery, shows that they had genius as well as 
we. Many think that because we have steam and 
electricity, and many devices which the ancients did 
not have, that therefore we know everything and 
they knew nothing. These facts, and many others 
such as the embalming of bodies which will keep for 
ages, show that after all, these people knew some- 
thing. Considering the limited things with which 
they had to work, they seem to have been men of 
greater genius than those living today. 

Leaving Baalbek we cross the Anti-Lebanon 
Mountains and descend into the plain where lies 
Damascus, the oldest city in the world. For fully 
four thousand years there has been a town of some 



TYRE, SIDON AND DAMASCUS. 



5 



kind here at Damascus. Nearly two thousand years 
before Christ, Abraham spoke of his servant as 
"Eliezer of Damascus." (Gen. 15:2.) Natural 
location has had much to do with making Damascus 
a permanent city. It lies at the foot of the Anti- 
Lebanon range and on the western border of the 
great Syrian Desert, and is well watered by the 
streams which come down from the mountains. The 
word "paradise" means a park, and to the Arabs 
who lived in a dry and barren country, Damascus 
was a paradise, similar to the one which they hope 
to inhabit in the next world. The two rivers which 
flow from the mountains through Damascus making 
it a beautiful garden in contrast to the dry desert 
to the east, were in Bible times called Abana and 
Pharpar. These rivers are formed of the melted 
snow in the mountains : and so the water is clear 
and cool. Looking at it from a purely physical 
standpoint, Naaman was right when he said, "Are 
not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, 
better than all the rivers of Israel?" For the Jor- 
dan is a muddy stream. (2 Kings 5:12.) Many 
times in the Old Testament the city of Damascus is 
mentioned, for it was the capital of Syria, a king- 
dom with which the Jews had many wars. 

But Damascus is more familiar to our minds be- 
cause it was to this city that Saul of Tarsus was 
going when he was converted. Not satisfied with 
persecuting the Christians in Jerusalem, he ob- 
tained letters from the high priest to go unto Da- 
mascus that he might there cast into prison all that 



TYRE, SIDON AND DAMASCUS. 



7 



called on the name of Jesus. (Acts 9, 22.) Yes, 
somewhere near this city the Lord appeared to this 
ardent Pharisee to make him a minister and a wit- 
ness to the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the Son 
of God. Oh. what conviction there is in the heart 
of this murderer ! For three days he prays unto 
God, no one yet having told him what to do. 
And now comes Ananias, a servant of God, and 
says. "And now why tarriest thou! Arise and be 
baptized and wash away thy sins, calling on his 
name." (Acts 22:16, R. V.) With what joy we see 
Paul now preaching the faith he once destroyed ! 
He is so active that his former friends become his 
most bitter enemies and watch for him at the gate 
of the city. In speaking of this persecution and of 
his escape from the hands of his enemies, Paul 
said, ' ' In Damascus the governor under Aretas, the 
king, guarded the city of the Damascenes in order 
to take me; and through a window was I let down 
in a basket by the wall, and escaped his hand." 
(2 Cor. 11:32.) Who of us today have incurred 
hatred because of our ardent advocacy of truth ? It 
is true that we should become all things to all men 
in being kind in the presentation of truth, but even 
then many will refuse to heed God's Word. By his 
suffering and by his words, Paul has taught us that 
"all that would live godly in Christ Jesus shall 
suffer persecution." (2 Tim. 3:12.) 

As I walk about these old walls, I fancy I can see 
the hunted Paul as he makes his escape from his 



8 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



furious enemies. God give us courage to speak the 
truth at all times, even though we may be hounded 
as was this apostle to the nations ! 



II 



EPHESUS 



EEAT is Diana of the Ephesians! Great is 



Diana of the Ephesians!" cries the sense- 



less mob; and, seizing two of Paul's com- 
panions in travel, they rush with one accord to the 
theater. 

Such was the turbulent scene which flashed 
through my mind as my eyes fell upon the ruined 
theater of Ephesus, still clinging tenaciously to 
the side of a hill. How different the view now ! 
Desolation and quietness now sway the sceptre over 
this once busy place. The ancients when building 
places of amusement nearly always took advantage 
of the side of a hill, so that the seats placed one be- 
hind and above another would need no support be- 
neath. Thistles and weeds are growing over the 
ruins, but I scramble through and over it all, to a 
point behind the highest seat to read a few chap- 
ters from a little book and "view the landscape 
o'er." Hills shut out the scenery to some extent, 
but still leave me a pleasant view of the historic 
place. Below is a valley through which the little 
Cayster is winding its way toward the sea. To the 




10 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



northwest lie the Aegean waters, so famous in Gre- 
cian lore. Immediately below, ruined walls, broken 
columns, pavements, and building stones scattered 
in wild confusion, tell of the former existence of a 
mighty city. Yes, this is the site of ancient Ephesus 
so famous in ancient history. 

The city was a prosperous place long before the 
birth of Jesus of Nazareth. Being situated on the 
sea, and on the route between eastern and west- 
ern civilization, yea, between the two great conti- 
nents of Europe and Asia, she soon grew into im- 
portance and was favored by many nations. But 
the thing which made her most famous in ancient 
history was the great temple of Diana which stood 
in her midst, and which was admired by all as one 
of the wonders of the world. The people of this 
city favored Diana, the goddess of the chase, above 
all their other deities, because they believed there 
had fallen down to them her image from above. 
Though the image was a crude affair of wood, they 
protected it as divine, and determined to build a 
temple for its abode. They laid extensive founda- 
tions for this structure in a swamp, so that the 
building would not be ruined by an earthquake. 
Kings vied with one another in making presents 
for its erection. At last it was finished, magnificent 
beyond description and received the homage of the 
world. Not long, however, did it enjoy this adora- 
tion, for a fanatic, desirous of becoming famous, 
fired the building and caused its destruction the 
very night in which Alexander the Great was born. 



12 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



356, B. C. Not discouraged, however, these people 
began again to raise a structure over the piece of 
wood which they thought had come down from 
heaven. This second great temple was not inferior 
to the first, for again did the rich of the earth lend 
a helping hand. Of the one hundred and twenty- 
seven magnificent columns placed into the temple, 
each was given by a king. Thousands came from 
foreign lands to view and revere this wonder of the 
world. That the devotees at this temple may have 
something to take away with them as mementos, 
silver shrines are made by Demetrius and his fel- 
low-workers and sold to the devout people. By this 
business much gain is brought to these workers. 
But about this time appears a man on the scene 
whose teachings endanger their craft. He is 
teaching that there is only one God, and that idols 
are senseless things unable to help their 
worshipers. For two years this man works dili- 
gently propagating the doctrines of his Lord. No 
wonder that many turn to him, for astonishing 
miracles are performed! No wonder that they 
leave unbought the silver shrines of Demetrius ! 
Seeing that something must be done this silversmith 
calls together his fellow-craftsmen, and announces 
to them that the teachings of Paul are causing this 
falling off in their trade, and that soon even the 
great temple of Diana will be despised and her 
magnificence be destroyed. Aroused by the in- 
flammatory speech of their leader, the workmen 
soon stir up the city and cause the . excitement 



EPHESUS. 



which endangers Paul's life. When the crowd 
rushes into the theater, some crying one thing and 
some another, Paul desires to enter to allay their 
feelings; but on the entreaty of the disciples he 
does not thus endanger himself. The town clerk 
knowing that the mob must be dispersed, enters 
the theater and talks to . the people, warning them 
against any rash actions, and showing them the 
foolishness of what they had done. Being pacified 
by the words of this officer, the assembly disperses. 
Yes. these ruins now before me, are. no doubt, the 
remains of that theater into which Paul's com- 
panions were dragged and into which he himself 
was persuaded not to go. How real it all seems 
as I sit here and read of the stirring events in 
the life of this inspired man ! 

How glad we are to know that opposition to the 
gospel at this place was of little avail ! True, 
many refused to accept the teachings of Jesus, still 
hundreds were turned to the Lord. Xot only in 
this city but throughout all these regions were the 
glad tidings sent forth. The repentance on the 
part of some was so great that they brought their 
works on the curious arts and burned them before 
the people. 

But opposition against the church was not al- 
ways to come from without. The enemies of the 
cross were not to be found among the open op- 
posers alone of Christ's religion. Paul, knowing 
this, when he was passing that way on his journey 
to Jerusalem, stopped at Miletus, where his vessel 



14 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



anchored, and called for the elders of the Ephesian 
church to come to him. I fancy I see these 
bishops, going gladly to Miletus to see him who 
had planted their feet upon the faith of the gospel 
of Christ. But their gladness is mingled with fear 
as they are reminded of their responsibility and 
the trying scenes which are yet to come. "Take 
heed, therefore," says Paul, "unto yourselves, and 
to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost has 
made you overseers, to feed the Church of God 
which he hath purchased with his own blood. For 
I know this, that after my departing shall grievous 
wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. 
Also of your ownselves shall men arise, speaking 
perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. 
Therefore watch, and remember that by the space 
of three years I ceased not to warn every one 
night and day with tears." "When he had thus 
spoken, he kneeled down, and prayed with them 
all. And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's 
neck and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the 
words which he spoke, that they should see his 
face no more. ' ' 

As my eyes still rest upon these ruins, my 
thoughts still linger about the church established 
here. The elders return from the sea-shore 
where they had received the parting words of 
Paul, continue their work for a little while, then 
drop from the stage of action to give place to 
others. The apostles, too, have now all gone, save 
one banished to yon lonely isle. Things have 



EPHESUS. 



15 



changed in the church at Ephesus. for its zeal has 
passed away. AVell indeed have they withstood 
the wrecking hand of the false teacher, not bearing 
"them who are evil." For Christ's sake they 
have labored and not fainted. But from this rocky 
isle comes the voice of the Master through John, 
"I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast 
left thy first love. Remember therefore from 
whence thou art fallen, and repent and do the 
first works: or else I will come unto thee quickly 
and remove thy candlestick out of his place. ' ' 

How many Ephesian churches have we in our 
own native land today ! How many churches 
which have theoretically kept the faith, yet have 
left their first love ! How many churches which 
have knowledge, yet which lack zeal ! Your 
Master is warning you to turn again, lest he re- 
move your candlestick from before his face. 



Ill 



CORINTH 



FTER preaching the gospel in Asia Minor, 



we see Paul making his way into Greece, 



the center of learning in those clays. The 
great city of Corinth is the one to which we now 
see him going to tell the story of Jesus. 

This city was founded many centuries before 
the Christian era, and grew prosperous early be- 
cause of her favorable situation. Near her on the 
north is the Corinthian Gulf, and near her on the 
east is the Aegean Sea, separated from each other 
by the Isthmus of Corinth, which bodies of water 
are now connected by a canal. In former days 
little vessels were dragged across this narrow strip 
of land. Besides being situated on the route be- 
tween the east and the west, she was so located 
that land traffic between Macedonia and other 
districts on the north, and Sparta and Olympia 
and other cities of Greece on the south, must pass 
through her. Soon she became important; soon 
she became mistress among the cities of Greece. 

But in the vicissitudes of time this city suffered 
much. Some of the wars carried on between the 




CORINTH. 



17 



rival states of Greece made her territory the battle 
field, bringing ruin to her vine-covered fields ; and 
in the days of Eoman supremacy, rebellion being 
found in her heart, she was razed to the ground. 
A century came and went, during which time the 
city lay in desolation. Then Caesar, a few years 
before Christ, realizing the importance of her 
situation, re-founded the town and started Corinth 
into a new era of prosperity. This city, rebuilt 
by Julius Caesar, was the town of the days of 
Christ and the apostles. During the Middle Ages, 
Corinth was a prosperous place-, but tribulation 
coming again, she fell into the hands of the Turks, 
then Venetians, then Turks again. Broken pieces 
of pillars, ruined stair-eases, a few monolithic 
columns still supporting an entablature, and a few 
scattered remains of a theater, tell of the activity 
and ability of a once-prosperous people. 

But a love of scenery impels me to climb to the 
top of yonder acropolis, the fort of ancient Corinth, 
nearly two thousand feet above the sea. The task 
is hard and the clay is hot. but the view on the 
highest point fully repays for the toil. Mediaeval 
walls, still sturdy in appearance, and the ruins 
of chapels and other buildings, are seen here and 
there. After pushing along among weeds and 
burrs, and picking my way among the ruins, I 
finally come to a point where a magnificent view 
is obtained, a view far-famed even in antiquity. 
To the south are the barren hills of Peloponessus, 
beyond which lay the city of Sparta. To the west, 



CORINTH, 



19 



lies a treeless chain of mountains. To the north, 
in the immediate foreground stretches the site of 
ancient Corinth with the ruins of her temple 
plainly visible. Farther away the bright waters 
of the Gulf of Corinth are seen ; and looming up 
behind them. Mt. Parnassus and her many sisters 
raise their heads. To the east can be seen the 
waters of the Aegean Sea, beyond which lies 
Attica, with Athens discernible on a clear day. 
What a place to sit to enjoy the scenery after a 
hard struggle up the mountain ! What a place, 
too, for musing on the events of centuries past ! 

As my mind wanders back through the ages that 
are gone, I fancy I see a man making his way 
across the isthmus to the mighty city which seems 
to be stretched before me. He is setting forth a 
new doctrine, and is now coming from Athens, 
where upon a hill he had made known his teaching. 
He has left some in that city believing the doctrine 
he presented; and, being a man zealous for his 
Master, he is now on his way to Corinth to present 
the same lessons. What a picture of zeal is por- 
trayed by this man's actions in this city! He 
reasons with the Jews out of their Scriptures, and 
talks with the Greeks about the One who had sent 
him out to announce the glad tidings of salvation. 
Meeting a man there of like occupation he toils with 
him, with his own hands making tents for his 
bread that he might be an example to his followers. 
The chief ruler of the synagogue believes the new 
doctrine; and many others, hearing, believe and 



20 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



are baptized ; and Paul, the great apostle of 
Christ, rejoices at the success of the gospel. Many 
however, will not hear the new doctrine, and being 
jealous of the success of Paul they raise an insur- 
rection and drag him before the judgment seat. 
Being turned away unhurt and untrammeled. he- 
continues to make known Christ and him crucified. 
For many months he abides in this city, turning 
many from darkness to light and from the power 
of Satan unto God. that they may receive forgive- 
ness of sins and inheritance among them who are 
sanctified through faith in Christ Jesus our Lord. 
Oh, what a glorious work has been accomplished, 
for in this city has been established a church of 
the Lord Jesus ! With gladness I fancy I see him 
turn to other parts of the Lord's vineyard. 

But look, these people who have been called to- 
gether out of the world, and have been taught 
lessons of love and righteousness, are now divided 
among themselves, and are causing weak ones to 
offend against God. and are tolerating a fornicator 
in their midst! Paul, far away, hears of their 
troubles, and writes them at once. His two letters 
to the brethren at Corinth have been read and 
obeyed, not only by many of the Corinthians but 
by millions of people who have never seen the city 
or site of Corinth. Eternity alone can tell the 
influence these letters have had on the teeming 
millions of the world. These brethren at Corinth 
love the one who has begotten them in the Lord, 
and they try to correct the abuses which have 



CORINTH. 



21 



arisen among them. Would that all who have 
wandered away from the teachings of inspired men 
were as willing to return as were these Christians 
at Corinth ! 

But the vision of the infant church and its in- 
spired founder fades from my sight, and I find 
that I must hasten away if I would reach my 
lodging-place by night. 



ATHENS 



ATHENS was one of the greatest cities of 
antiquity. Some ancient cities might have 
led in one thing and some in another, but 
Athens certainly led the world in philosophy and 
art. The origin of the city itself is wrapped some- 
what in obscurity. Theseus seems to have been the 
first ruler of any importance, being the first one 
to bring together the several states of Attica. As 
the centuries passed by. the importance of Athens, 
and. in fact, of the rest of Greece, showed the 
world that a mighty power had arisen. In the 
fifth century before Christ, the Persians decided 
to bring this little independent country under the 
power of the East. So Darius, with two hundred 
thousand men, swept down into Greece. Feeling 
that somebody must take the lead Athens stepped 
boldly to the front, and with the aid which her 
sister states gave, defeated the common enemy on 
the field of Marathon. The Persians, not satis- 
fied, tried their fortune again, this time obtaining 
possession of the city until the naval engagement 
at SaJamis. when they retreated again toward 



ATHENS. 



2:! 



their own country. Athens now had nothing to 
fear from the foreign enemy, and the prominence 
she had taken in the Persian wars raised her to 
the highest position among the states of Greece. 
Now began a period of prosperity unequalled be- 
fore. The fortifications were made stronger; the 
Long Walls sixty feet high reaching to Piraeus, 
their fort, four or five miles away, were built; 
philosophers thronged the streets; and magnificent 
temples which have been the wonder of the world 
from an artistic view, were erected. In the course 
of time, however, rivalry sprang up among the 
different states of Greece, and Athens suffered 
much from the hand of war. The Romans, too, 
obtained possession of the city and held her under 
their power. Centuries have come and gone, and 
with the rise and fall of empires, have changed the 
ruling power of Athens. She is now the capital 
of her country, but is chiefly noted among the 
nations for the magnificent ruins which she still 
contains. 

If there ever was a religious city certainly 
Athens was one, her gods and goddesses being al- 
most innumerable. On the streets were statues of 
gods, in the market places were statues of gods, 
and in the temples were statues of gods. There 
were so many images in this city that a Roman 
satirist said that it was easier to find a god here 
than a man. When we see these Athenians seeking 
God through their poetry and philosophy, and yet 
not finding Him, we remember that Paul has said 



24 



MEDITATIONS IX BIBLE LAXDS. 



that ''the world through its wisdom knew not 
God." 

These art-loving Athenians erected many 
temples to their- deities. The acropolis, a rocky 
eminence in the city, was originally a fort, but 
was afterwards made a sanctuary for the gods. 
Upon this point were built temples which have 
been models to the world in art. The Parthenon, 
even after the lapse of 2.300 years^ and the de- 
struction wrought by the hand of man. remains a 
wonder to all who behold it, Phidias, perhaps the 
greatest sculptor that ever lived, did his best work 
upon this magnificent building. The temple of 
Victory, the Propylaea. and other structures, reveal 
the skill and devotion of these people. 

In philosophy as well as art did these people 
lead the world. The slaves which they had did 
the work, while they gave themselves to pursuits 
of the mind. They would meet in the market 
places or on the streets and discuss any subject 
which might arise. They spent their time in trying 
to learn something newer than the new. Some of 
these philosophers have been the greatest thinkers 
that ever lived. The morality taught by Socrates 
has been unsurpassed except by that of the great 
Teacher himself, and the thoughts of this philoso- 
pher's pupils. Plato and Aristotle, ruled the world 
for nearly 2.000 years. But it is the teaching of 
the Epicureans and the Stoics which interest us 
most as Bible students. The former sect was 
founded by Epicurus, who taught that tranquil 



ATHENS. 



25 



pleasure is the highest end of human existence. 
Like the French revolutionists, this sect taught 
that there is no resurrection, that death is an 
eternal sleep, and that there is no future punish- 
ment or reward. Some might believe such doc- 
trines, and yet live moral lives, but not so with 
the great majority. "Let us eat and drink, for to- 
morrow we die." they cried, and plunged them- 
selves into pleasure and vice. 

•"Live while you live, the Epicure would say, 
And seize the pleasures of the present day." 

The doctrines of the Stoics were somewhat dif- 
ferent. They were opposed to anything which 
would appeal to the feelings, and claimed to be 
governed by reason alone. They denounced the 
beautiful temples and other works of art, yet at 
the same time worshiped the gods above. If good 
fortune came to them, they were not to rejoice ; 
if adversity, they were not to repine. Plutarch, 
when told that his child had died, replied by 
simply saying that he never thought that he had 
begotten an immortal. Though these doctrines— 
some of them— seem foolish, still they controlled 
many bright minds, and did much for the morality 
of the world. 

After visiting these temples, monuments and 
theaters, which have stood for so many hundreds 
of years, I sit down, near the close of the day, 
at a monument on a hill near the city, to think 
of past scenes. Hills are to the north, to the east, 



26 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



and to the south, now barren, though once well 
wooded. To the west is the sea,, beyond which can 
be seen the land of Sparta. In the immediate 
foreground to the northeast is the acropolis, with 
its magnificent ruins, appearing all the more 
beautiful when kissed by the parting rays of the 
setting sun. My mind goes back nearly two thous- 
and years, and incidents, familiar to us all, arise. 
Paul, the apostle of Jesus the Christ, has 
preached in Thessalonica. but they will not hear 
his word. In Berea, however, he finds better soil, 
for they receive the word with readiness of mind. 
His enemies at Thessalonica come to Berea and 
stir up persecution, so that Paul leaves, turning 
his face toward Athens. Yes. here he comes into 
this idolatrous city, to make known the only true 
God. 

As Paul's custom is, he goes first to the Jews 
and tells them of Jesus. His spirit being stirred 
within him at their idolatry, he reasons in the 
market-places with the philosophers of the Epicur- 
ean and Stoic schools. In their pride they look 
down upon him, calling him a babbler. When he 
speaks of Jesus and the resurrection, they fancy 
he is a proclaimer of strange gods. They then 
bring him to the court which assembles on Mars 
Hill, and give him an opportunity to make known 
there his doctrines. Thinking of the shrines, the 
images, and the temples which met his eyes as he 
passed through the city, he lifts his voice and 



28 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



makes known the doctrines of the great Jehovah, 
from whom all blessings come, — 

"Ye men of Athens, in all things I perceive that 
ye are very religions. For as I passed along and 
observed the objects of your worship. I found also 
an altar with this inscription, To an Unknown 
God. What therefore ye worship in ignorance, 
this I set forth unto you. The God that made the 
world and all things therein, he being Lord of 
heaven and earth, dwell eth not in temples made 
with hands, neither is seiwed by men's hands, as 
though he needed anything, seeing he himself 
giveth to all life, and breath, and all things: and 
he made of one every nation of men to dwell on ail 
the face of the earth, having determined their ap- 
pointed seasons, and the bounds of their habitation ; 
that they should seek God, if haply they might 
feel after him and find him. though he is not far 
from each one of us ; for in him we live, and move, 
and have our being : as certain of your own poets 
haA*e said. For Ave are his offspring. Being then 
the offspring of God. Ave ought not to think that 
the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone. 
graA T en by art and deA'ice of man. The times of 
ignorance therefore God OA^erlooked ; but hoav 
commandeth that they should all everywhere re- 
pent ; inasmuch as he hath appointed a day in 
which lie will judge the world in righteousness by 
the man whom he hath ordained : whereof he hath 
giA'en assurance unto all men in that he hath raised 
him from the dead." (Acts 17. E. V.) 



ATHENS, 



29 



What a wonder fnl speech is this, striking at 
the very root of idolatry! Some cleave unto Paul, 
believing the doctrines he presented, but the great 
majority filled with pride because of the learning 
in their nation, turn away with disdain. How like 
these people are many today who. when filled with 
earthly wisdom, forsake or neglect the simple 
teachings of Jesus of Nazareth ! 



V 



PAUL'S TRIP TO ROME 



Malta, Syracuse, Rhegium, Puteoli, Mt. Vesu- 



NE OF the most interesting journeys re- 



corded in the New Testament, is that of 



the Apostle Paul to the city of Rome. 
"When he saw that in his difficulties with the Jews, 
he would not receive justice in his own land 
where the Roman judges would be influenced by 
the Jewish mobs, he said, "I appeal to Caesar." 
He did not go to Rome as a free man. but as a 
prisoner bound for Jesus Christ. After journey- 
ing part of the way in one ship, Paul was trans- 
ferred with other prisoners to a ship bound 
directly for Italy. When going from one port to 
another at the island of Crete, they were caught 
by a fierce storm and blown far out to sea. For 
fourteen days they were driven up and down that 
part of the sea at the mercy of the winds and 
waves, during which time they ate nothing, for 
they expected any moment to be their last. Finally, 
in fulfillment of the prediction of Paul, the vessel 



vius and Pompeii. 




paul's trip to rome. 



31 



was wrecked and all reached the shore alive by 
swimming or floating on pieces of the broken ship. 
The island upon which they were cast was called 
Melita, now Malta, and lies just south of the is- 
land of Sicily. 

After three months they resumed their journey 
toward Eome. Their route led them along the east 
coast of Sicily through the Strait of Messina which 
separates the island from Italy. For three days 
they tarried at Syracuse, a very prominent Grecian 
city. I say Grecian, for the city had been built by 
the Greeks. Through several hundred years before 
Christ, the Greeks did "much colonizing. The 
island of Sicily was one of their most prominent 
possessions, and the southern part of Italy was so 
filled with Greek cities that it was called Magna 
Graecia (Great Greece.) At the height of its pros- 
perity, Syracuse contained no less than half a mil- 
lion inhabitants. 

As Paul sailed northward along the coast of 
Sicily, he obtained a fine view of Mt. Aetna, the 
loftiest volcano in Europe. It is more than 10,000 
feet high, covers 460 square miles, and is 90 miles 
in circumference at its base. From the earliest 
ages this mountain has been known as a volcano, 
and has wrought great damage to life and property 
in times past. As one passes at the foot of the 
mountain today, he sees houses, gardens, trees and 
vineyards, far up its slopes. Perhaps it was as 
quiet when Paul viewed it from his ship as it is 
today, when the tourist views it from the train. 



32 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



Continuing his journey to the north. Paul found 
himself in a day or two in the Strait of Messina, 
with the city of Messina on the Sicilian shore, and 
Rhegium, now Reggio, on the Italian shore. The 
poet Homer represents his hero. Ulysses, as sailing 
through this strait, a thousand years before Paul, 
in the midst of great dangers. The rock, Seylla. 
on the Italian side, he depicts as a beautiful virgin 
above, and a monster with a wolf's body and 
dolphin's tail below: and the whirlpool. Charybdis, 
on the Sicilian side, he describes as a woman en- 
ticing the mariners to their destruction. From this 
bit of mythology, we get the proverb. "To sail 
between Seylla and Charybdis, " meaning, to pass 
through difficulties or dangers from opposite 
sides. The two cities. Messina and Ehegium. at 
the latter of which the apostle stopped, have both 
been recently destroyed by an earthquake, in 
which millions of dollars worth of property were 
destroyed and thousands of lives were lost. 

The next point at which Paul stopped in his 
journey to Rome was Puteoli, situated on the 
northern border of the Gulf of Naples, and the 
principal depot for the traffic with Egypt and the 
East. As Paul sailed into this port, he could see 
Mt. Vesuvius, the most noted volcano in the world, 
and perhaps could get a glimpse of Pompeii, one 
of the cities which was destroyed a few years after 
his journey. This volcano is about 4.000 feet high, 
and has been a great sore to Italy, sending forth 
its lava and ashes for many hundreds of years. 



PAUL'S TRIP TO ROME. 



33 



devastating the country, destroying lives, and ter- 
rorizing the people who were not killed. The most 
noted eruption was in the year 79 A. D. when 
Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabiae and other cities 
of this beautiful district were entirely covered with 
the ashes. For about 1 ; 600 years these cities were 
entirely lost sight of, but within the past two 
hundred years excavations have been made which 
have unearthed these cities just as they were when 
destroyed. The ancient city of Pompeii which 
has been awakened out of the ashes, is one of the 
most interesting spots in the world, for it gives 
one a better idea of the ancient Roman cities than 
anything else which has come down to us. There 
we can see the houses just as they were in the 
year 79 when the ashes covered the city. There 
are the narrow stone streets with the ruts made 
in them by the wagons, just as they were in the 
first century. The theater has been preserved al- 
most whole, where the populace gathered to wit- 
ness the plays and contests of two thousand years 
ago. The temple, too, where the religious people 
worshiped their gods is as conspicuous as church 
buildings today. Tombs and monuments are 
scattered along some of the roads on the outside 
of the city. Some watering troughs for the beasts 
of burden are at the intersection of some of the 
streets, and drinking fountains for the people are 
scattered here and there. The mosaics are upon 
the walls and floors just as they were when the 
city was covered, telling of the artistic ability 



34 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



and licentious taste of the immoral inhabitants of 
the place. Although the weight of the ashes in 
the destruction of the city broke down the build- 
ings somewhat, still everything else is just as it 
was when the frightened people fled from the 
place. The fountains in some of the atria, or open 
courts, of the buildings have been put into opera- 
tion again, and play as lively as when the Roman 
soldier ruled the world. As one passes along these 
streets, looking into these temples and theaters 
and private buildings, he can imagine as nowhere 
else perhaps in all the earth, that he is living in 
the ancient world. It was into cities built like 
this that the Apostle Paul went to tell the story 
of Jesus and to convert the people from their 
evil ways. 

But we can not leave this country without taking 
a trip up to the top of Mt. Vesuvius. After a ride 
in a carriage of several hours from Naples, we 
change to an electric car; and finally, when we 
have reached the limit of its ability to climb the 
hill, Ave take the wire-rope railway, and ascend 
to a point several hundred feet from the top. As 
we pass along we see that there is every indication 
of great fertility. We are now at a place where 
the lava is coming red hot from the bowels of the 
earth. We look into a fissure in the mountain side 
as into a great furnace. The guide has to re- 
strain continually our curiosity, lest we go too 
close and burn our shoes as we walk over the 
hardened lava. Finally, we make the last move 



36 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



for the top. Through ashes we wearily wade and 
climb, until we reach the crater, more than 4,000 
feet above the sea. About once a minute there is 
an explosion in which rocks are hurled out of the 
crater to a great height; and it is between the ex- 
plosions that we run up and peep down for a few 
seconds into the great opening. All we can see is 
smoke and steam rising; and on the other side of 
the crater at the lowest point we can see cones 
of ashes, perhaps a hundred feet high. When one 
sees these effects of a mighty power in the earth 
so superior to man's, he realizes his own little- 
ness. 

When a person views this volcano from the water 
at night, it presents a beautiful appearance. The 
smoke and steam are continually rolling from it 
as from a furnace, and the explosions at regular 
intervals, lighten the smoke and the clouds which 
may be passing by, giving them the appearance of 
fire; and this furnace in the heavens, reflected in 
the waters beneath, present a picture never to be 
forgotten. Perhaps this volcano was as restless 
in Paul's day as it is now, when he sailed across 
the Bay of Naples with the mountain in full view, 
and cast anchor in the port of Puteoli. 

Paul tarried in Puteoli among the brethren 
seven days, and then resumed his journey to Rome. 
When the disciples in that great city learned Paul 
was coming, they came out to meet him; and the 
faithfulness of their discipleship caused the apostle 



paul's trip to rome. 



37 



to thank God and take courage. Thus did this great 
messenger of God to the Gentiles find himself in 
the capital of the Roman empire, 



VI 



ROME 



HE early history of Rome is clouded some- 



what in obscurity. The city is said to have 



been established in 751 B. C. by Romulus, 
and after many changes through seA^en centuries 
the little village grew to be the mistress of the 
world. One by one the petty nations of the Italian 
peninsula had to bow to the superior power of the 
rising Roman state, until at last they were united 
in a solid nation and ready to go out to conquer the 
world. It was Julius Caesar who lived a few years 
before Christ that did the most for Rome by the 
way of conquering nations outside of Italy. He 
conquered Gaul (now France), Britain, and some 
other countries east of the Mediterranean Sea ; and 
these conquests with the ones which were made with 
the other noted warriors, made the Roman empire 
almost synonymous with the world. Previous to 
the days of Julius Caesar, the Roman people had 
been banded together in a republic; but the Un- 
precedented success of this general in foreign 
fields which gave him a name above all others, and 
the power of his legions which was greater than 




ROME. 



39 



that of his rivals, raised him to the position of sole 
ruler in the Roman empire. From his clay on, the 
simplicity and republicanism which had made 
Rome what she was, were pnt aside, and luxury 
and despotism reigned. 

Some of these despots, however, were great 
builders, and some of them were good men seeking 
the peace and prosperity of the people. Great and 
magnificent temples and other public and private 
buildings, roads, aqueducts, etc., were erected by 
the emperors, the ruins of which have come down 
to the present time, telling us of the grandeur and 
greatness of this ancient city. After Rome had 
reached the height of its power and glory in the 
first century, it took several centuries for it to fall 
to pieces. The legions of this great empire were 
never idle very long at a time, for nearly every 
year there was a revolt of some kind among the 
border nations of the unwieldy government. 
Finally, the barbarians became more bold in their 
attacks on Rome as they saw her growing weaker 
through her excess of wealth; and after many 
struggles of the dying empire for several centuries, 
she sank down in the fifth century under the supe- 
rior physical force of the hordes which swept down 
from the north. From the ruins of the Roman 
empire have sprung the modern countries of 
Europe through many changes in the centuries, 
and each one of them has derived much of its 
language, law and culture from this government 
of iron. 



40 



MEDITATIONS IX BIBLE LANDS. 



One of the remarkable things of history is that 
though the Roman empire was dissolved, another 
Roman empire sprang up from its ruins. \Vhen 
pagan Rome lost her power, then papal Rome, the 
Roman Catholic Church, assumed to herself the 
authority of the former. As pagan Rome had 
ruled the world, so the great apostasy from the 
Church of Christ assumed to herself the sov- 
ereignty of the souls, yea. and afterwards, even 
the bodies of men. From the fifth and sixth 
centuries there has existed that which is known 
in history as the Holy Roman Empire. These two 
great empires are the subjects of prophecy in both 
the Old and Xew Testaments. 

When the city of Rome was destroyed by the 
barbarians, many of the buildings were partially 
torn or burnt down, and the parts which were not 
destroyed were covered with rubbish and have re- 
mained hidden for fifteen centuries. In recent 
times the houses which have been built on these 
ruins have been removed, excavations have been 
made, and many things of interest and value to 
the student of ancient history have been brought 
to light. Temples, private houses, public buildings, 
statues, arches of triumph, monumental columns, 
and forums where some of the greatest speeches 
in the world have been made, have been unearthed, 
and have been given something of the appearance 
they had in the palmy days of Rome's supremacy. 
The lover of Roman history can profitably spend 
days loitering in these old ruins with his books in 



42 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



his hand, identifying the particular places, and 
studying and meditating upon the great events 
which have happened here. 

There is one of these relics of antiquity which 
is of especial interest to the Bible student. The 
Arch of Titus is undoubtedly a witness for the 
credibility of the New Testament. It was Titus 
and his father Vespasian who carried on the war 
against the Jews, and destroyed their city in 70 
A. D. ; and this arch commemorates their victory 
in this war. On the inside of this arch is a fine 
relief of the triumphal procession with captive 
Jews, the table of show-bread, and the candlestick 
with seven branches. These stones tell us of the 
very events foretold by Jesus, and thus do they 
strengthen us in our confidence in Jesus as divine. 

On the outside of Rome are the catacombs which 
have an interesting history for Christians. These 
catacombs are subterranean passageways with open 
rooms here and there. They were originally burial 
places, but in the times of persecution, the Chris- 
tians betook themselves to them to escape the hand 
of the persecutor. These catacombs are in the 
hands of the Roman Catholics, who of course make 
sacred ground out of them, and attach their tradi- 
tions to the places. 

It is interesting to the Protestant to study 
Roman Catholicism in Rome, the place of its 
birth. A few centuries after Christ the bishop of 
Rome began to think that special prominence 
should be given to him because, as he said, the 



ROME. 



4:3 



apostles Peter and Paul both suffered martyrdom 
there. It is, however, a matter of doubt as to 
Peter's ever having been in Eome. They conven- 
iently make this the place of his martyrdom so that 
they can apply to themselves the language of 
Christ to Peter, "I will give unto thee the keys 
of the kingdom of heaven." etc., forgetting that 
practically the same language was used to the other 
apostles. (John 20:22, 23.) These people claim 
that St. Peter's church is built over the bones of 
the apostle Peter. This cathedral is the largest and 
grandest in the world. At the end of the seven- 
teenth century, it had cost $50,000,000, and no 
doubt much more expense has been added to it in 
the past two centuries. It was the selling of in- 
dulgences in Germany to procure money to help 
in the work on this building which started the 
fires of the Eeformation. Joining St. Peter's are 
the Vatican buildings where lives the pope, "the 
man of sin," who "sitteth in the temple of God, 
setting himself forth as God." (2 Thess. 2:3. 4.) 
The Vatican museum is one of the finest in the 
world, and should be visited by every lover of 
ancient things. In the entrance hall to the Sistine 
chapel are frescoe paintings, among which are 
scenes from the night of St. Bartholomew, which 
formerly had under them the inscription St rages 
Eugiienottorum (Slaughter of the Huguenots). 
Thus did the popes glorify in art their horrible 
butchery of tens of thousands of Protestants in 
Prance. The Koman Catholic Church is not dif- 



44 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



ferent now from what she was when she ordered 
this wholesale slaughter, and she would do the 
same thing today against "heretics", if she dared. 
She is opposed to religious and political freedom, 
and is the enemy of every free government. 
' ' Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. ' ' 



VII 



THE COLOSSEUM AT ROME 

~1HE COLOSSEUM at Rome is the largest 



theater in the world, and one of the most 



imposing structures which has come down 
to us from ancient times. It was finished about 
the year 80 A. D. by Titus, and was inaugurated 
with gladiatorial contests lasting one hundred days, 
in which 6,000 beasts were slain and in which 
naval contests were exhibited in the arena. There 
are four stories in the building reaching to a 
height of 157 feet ; and the external circumference 
of it is about a third of a mile. The arena is 
about 275 feet long and 175 feet wide. About 
50,000 people could look down upon the contests 
going on in the arena below. Although two-thirds 
of the structure have disappeared, the ruins are 
still wonderfully impressive. Nothing which has 
come down to us from the palmy days of Home 
tells us better of her ancient grandeur. 

As the Christian stands in this arena, when 
quietness reigns and darkness mingles with light, a 
strange sadness comes over him. Upon those seats 
once sat the Roman populace looking down with 




THE COLOSSEUM AT ROME. 



47 



pleasure upon the bloody scene in the arena below. 
Out of those doors once sprang the wild beasts to 
devour the victims standing almost helpless before 
them. In the first, second and third centuries, 
many of those victims were the followers of the 
lowly Nazarene. Yes, it is true, that these very 
sands have been moistened with the blood of those 
who sealed their faith in Jesus with their lives. 
And not only here, but also throughout the city, 
and even throughout the Roman empire, the fol- 
lowers of Christ gave their lives for his sake. 

My mind goes back to the Church of Christ in 
its infancy, and I think of its many struggles. I 
see the great Apostle to the Gentiles in his fight 
for truth and righteousness, and in his sufferings 
for Jesus' sake. He commences to tell the story of 
Jesus in the very city to which he had started to 
destroy the Christians, and his former friends be- 
come his enemies and watch for him at the gate of 
the city. By being let down by the wall in a basket, 
he escapes their hands. I see him in Arabia tell- 
ing the same story of Christ and him crucified. 
Now he is in Antioch and Iconium and Lystra, and 
the Jews refuse to hear his words. At the last 
place they stone him, drag him out of the city, and 
leave him for dead. At Philippi they beat him and 
thrust him into the inner prison and put his feet 
into the stocks. But instead of pining, he sings 
praises unto God, remembering that J esus had said, 
"Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and 
persecute you, and say all manner of evil against 



48 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



you falsely for my sake; rejoice and be exceeding 
glad, for great is your reward in heaven; for so 
persecuted they the prophets who were before 
you." On Mars Hill he tells the people of the 
one true God, but only a few will listen to him. 
Now he is at Corinth establishing a church in 
that voluptuous city, working at the same time 
with his own hands. Finally, I see him at Jeru- 
salem, wrested by the officers from the hands of 
the seething mob, and hear him say in his trial, 
"I appeal unto Caesar." But the journey to 
Rome is a disastrous one to the ship on which he 
is traveling. A great storm sweeps down upon 
them, and for fourteen days and nights they are 
driven with the fierce wind, and finally wrecked 
and thrown upon an island. From Malta I see 
him coming north past Syracuse and Rhegium to 
Puteoli, and then to Rome itself. Here he is now 
in the capital of the Roman empire, preaching the 
gospel in his own hired house, and waiting for the 
time when he should be offered by the cruel hand 
of persecution as a sacrifice to his God. 

As he looks back over his life, he thinks of the 
many things he has endured for the name of 
Jesus, and says, "Of the Jews five times received 
I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with 
rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered ship- 
wreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep ; 
in journeyings often, in perils of rivers, in perils 
of robbers, in perils from my countrymen, in 
perils from the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in 



THE COLOSSEUM AT ROME. 



49 



perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in 
perils among false brethren ; in labor and travail, 
in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in 
fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Besides 
those things that are without, there is that which 
presseth upon me daily, anxiety for all the 
churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak"? 
"Who is caused to stumble, and I burn not ? ' ' 

Now while the apostle is living such a life as 
this, a life of devotion and sacrifice for the name 
of Jesus, a life of suffering and toil for the gos- 
pel's sake, does he consider that he is alone in the 
work? Because men have forsaken him, does he 
think that God has forsaken him. too? Does he 
believe that because he has been conquered 
physically by men, therefore he has been spirit- 
ually and eternally cast aside by God? Or does 
he rather believe that in the midst of all his perse- 
cutions and death for Jesus' name, he is more than 
a conqueror through him that loved him ? Listen 
to his words of defiance to all the enemies of the 
cross of Jesus, "Who shall separate us from the 
love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or anguish, or 
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or 
sword ? Even as it is written, For thy sake we are 
killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep 
for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are 
more than conquerors through him that loved us. 
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, 
nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, 
nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor 



50 



MEDITATIONS IX BIBLE LANDS. 



depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to 
separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ 
Jesus our Lord." (Rom. 8:35-39.) 

What a life of devotion to truth is this of the 
apostle Paul, what a soldier of the cross is he ! 
And what does he think of it all when he is about 
to close his work on earth? Does he think that he 
has wasted his days, and say that he is sorry that 
he has denied himself so much for Jesus' sake? 
In view of the eternity into which he is about to 
pass, does he say, "0, that I had spent my days 
seeking earthly glory and pleasure and riches ! " ? 
Listen now to the dying words of him who worked 
for Jesus as no other man has ever worked, as he 
thinks of his battles for the cross of Christ, "I am 
now ready to be offered, and the time of my de- 
parture is at hand. I have fought a good fight. I 
have finished my course, I have kept the faith; 
henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of 
righteousness, which the Lord the righteous judge 
shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but 
unto all them also that love his appearing." (2 
Tim. 4:6-8.) 

As I stand here in this old theater, grand even 
in its ruins, my mind goes back to the martyrs who 
have died for the gospel in this city of Rome. 
Above them all stands the apostle Paul, because of 
his great labors. But besides him, thousands of 
others died in this city for the name of Jesus. 
Yea, upon the very sands of this theater have 
perished many of the disciples of Christ for their 



52 MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 

faith in him. The Roman empire did her best to 
destroy the kingdom of Jesus, and it seemed in 
those days of persecution as if she would ac- 
complish her purpose; but this blood of the 
martyrs only became the seed of the Church. 
Where is Rome today, and where is the kingdom 
of Christ? That great empire is only in history, 
but the kingdom of God still goes on, conquering 
the nations of the earth. Though it is found in 
many places in a corrupted form, still in every 
nation under the sun there are to be found those 
who are willing to die for the name of Jesus 
Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords. And 
when the angel shall stand with one foot on the 
sea and the other on the land, and shall declare 
that time was, that time is, but that time shall 
be no more, — then, not simply one, but all the 
kingdoms of earth will pass away, but the kingdom 
of God will go on. "In the days of these kings, " 
said the old prophet, referring to the time of the 
Cassars, "shall the God of heaven establish a 
kingdom which shall never be destroyed." For 
two thousand years, this kingdom has withstood 
the arts of the Evil One, and is stronger today 
than it ever was. And if we are faithful citizens 
in this empire, faithful to Jesus our great King, 
Ave know that even when earthly things will have 
ceased to be, we shall continue as the happy sub- 
jects of the Prince of Peace, and shall be the im- 
mortalized citizens in the everlasting kingdom of 
our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 



VIII 



THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS 

pvUE GOOD SHIP brings ns safely to Port 



Said, and immediately we make prepara- 



tions to start for Cairo. We find, how- 
ever, that the morning train has gone and that we 
cannot start for the metropolis of Egypt nntil 
late in the evening. We spend the interval along 
the shore of the Great Sea. watching the waves as 
they play about npon the beach, and thinking of 
the ancient country which we are about to see. 
We remember that this land without the River 
Nile would be uninhabited and would only be a 
continuation of the great Libyan desert. The Nile 
is, in fact, Egypt itself. This river is one of the 
longest in the world, taking its source in central 
Africa and flowing four thousand miles to the 
Mediterranean Sea. It seldom rains in Egypt, 
and the water used by man and beast and land 
is obtained by the inundation of the Nile. The 
heavy rains in central Africa cause the river to 
overflow, bringing with it many feet of sediment 
and making Egypt one of the most fertile spots 
in the world. In the valley of the Nile the arable 




54 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



land nowhere exceeds ten miles in width, with the 
exception of the delta, and thus Egypt really pre- 
sents the unique appearance of a country nearly 
a thousand miles in length and only ten or twelve 
miles in width. But in this narrow land have 
transpired some of the greatest events of human 
history, and have lived some of the most learned 
and ingenious men the world has ever seen. The 
skill and knowledge which built the pyramids far 
back beyond the dawn of history are the wonder 
of the world even today. In sight of these great 
piles of masonry was born the man Moses, who led 
the Jewish people up out of bondage in Egypt to 
the promised land, and became the leader of the 
greatest religious nation the world has ever 
known. Here, too, in this land of pyramids lived 
for a little time the child Jesus, whither his 
parents had taken him to escape the wrath of 
Herod. It is upon such great events as these that 
our minds dwell as we wait for the train to carry 
us down into this ancient land. 

From Port Said we run directly south for an 
hour or more, parallel with the Suez Canal, one 
of the great achievements of the nineteenth cen- 
tury. I would enjoy much to go on south to the 
Red Sea and look for the place where the children 
of Israel may have crossed in their flight from 
Egypt, but time forbids, and we stay with our 
train, which carries us west and south to the city 
of Cairo. It is night, but the moon is shining 
brightly, giving one an idea of the country through 



56 



MEDITATIONS EST BIBLE LANDS. 



which he is passing. My traveling companions are 
sleeping, but I cannot, for I am now passing over 
historic ground which I may never see again. My 
guide-book tells me that we are now traveling past 
the ruins of storehouses where grain was kept, 
which may be the cities of Pithom and Raamses. 
built by the enslaved Jews thirty-five centuries 
ago. I fancy I see them now as they toil under 
the heavy load: I see the taskmaster with his whip, 
and hear the groan of the bleeding slave. I hear, 
too. the cry of the bereaved mother as her darling 
babe is cast into the river. But their Egyptian 
bondage is now over, and I see them marching out 
of that land with great substance. I cannot sleep 
while passing over such historic ground as this. 

Cairo is the city from which the tourist makes 
excursions to the historic ruins of Egypt. Here 
one takes the train to Heliopolis, the ancient city 
of the sun. called On by the Egyptians and Old 
Testament writers, where nothing is left of that 
famous city except a few piles of rubbish and a 
single obelisk. From here one makes the excursion 
to Memphis — called Noph by Bible writers — per- 
haps the most ancient city of Egypt, where nothing 
is to be seen today except a few large statues and 
the necropolis, or city of the dead. And from 
here one makes the interesting trip to Cheops, 
the largest of the pyramids. This huge pile is 
more than four hundred and eighty feet in height 
and covers thirteen acres at its base. Herodotus 
estimated that one hundred thousand men were 




Sole Remains of the City "On" of the Bible 



58 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



employed twenty years in the erection of this 
single structure. For forty centuries the pyramids 
have withstood the destructive hand of time, and 
no doubt will stand until time shall be no more. 
The top of the pyramids is a model place for 
musing when the moon is up or the sun is nearly 
down. One is there impressed with the shortness 
of his life compared with the countless genera- 
tions gone before. 

In no country of the world are there such magni- 
ficent ruins of ancient heathen temples as in the 
land of the Pharaohs. The banks of the Nile for 
eight hundred miles are dotted with these 
structures of religious devotion of the ancient 
Egyptians. Some of these buildings have been 
covered with dirt for centuries, and now almost 
perfect are seen by the modern traveler. The 
ruins of the temples at Thebes, however, are the 
most stupendous of all the ruins of Egypt and of 
the world. Thebes was a mighty city long before 
Jerusalem had been founded. Homer, the Greek 
poet who lived seven hundred years before Christ, 
spoke of "the hundred-gated Thebes." On the 
site of this city the ruins of the temple of Luxor 
are the marvel of the tourist, but those of the 
temples of Karnak surpass even this. In all the 
world there are no ruins so stupendous and magni- 
ficent as those of Karnak in the ancient city of 
Thebes. They are not a single temple, but a cluster 
of temples, forming a little city of sacred build- 
ings. We spend the day wandering among the 



THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. 



59 



walls and columns of these sacred buildings and 
viewing the curious hieroglyphics upon the stones. 
The guide-book, through the aid of the Rosetta 
Stone, is able to decipher some of these sacred 
writings and to tell us of the deeds of long-forgot- 
ten kings. On the north wall of the temple of 
Amnion "are historical reliefs of great importance, 
commemorating the victories of Sethos I and 
Rameses II over the inhabitants of Palestine." 
On another wall of this same temple is an account 
of the victory of Shishak over the Israelites, as 
recorded in 1 Kings 14:25, 26, and the features 
of the captives are clearly those of the Jew. "And 
it came to pass in the fifth year of King Rehoboam 
that Shishak, king of Egypt, came up against 
Jerusalem ; and he took away the treasures of the 
house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's 
house. He even took away all; and he took away 
all the shields of gold which Solomon had made." 
When I read this confirmation of God 's Word upon 
the monuments of Egypt, I am strengthened in my 
faith. 

The great hall of columns in this temple of 
Amnion is one of the wonders of the world even 
today. Its breadth is three hundred and thirty- 
eight feet and its depth one hundred and seventy 
feet. The roof is supported by one hundred and 
thirty-four columns. One hundred and twenty- 
two columns are each forty-two and one-half feet 
in height and six and one-half feet in diameter. 
The remaining twelve columns are each nearly 



60 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



twelve feet in diameter and upward of thirty- 
three feet in circumference and seventy-eight feet 
in height. Six men with outstretched arms can 
hardly span one of these huge columns. With all 
the boasted knowledge and wisdom of the twentieth 
century, we cannot, after all, despise the skill and 
learning of the ancients. 

The day of sight- seeing in the ruins of Thebes 
is about done, and as a climax to the whole we 
take our stand on a massive pylon, or gateway, of 
a temple, there to wait for the twilight to ap- 
proach and the moon to rise and throw her pale 
solemn light over the historic place. We have 
eaten our evening lunch, and now while my com- 
panions are resting in sleep on the giant stones of 
the pylon, I am drinking in the scene. In the im- 
mediate foreground is the historic Nile, making her 
way majestically to the sea, and seeming to say 
to the land as she passes, "All that you are, you 
owe to me." Beyond the river is part of the 
valley in which once lay much of the famous 
Thebes, and in which are seen even today two 
great statues called the Colossi of Memnon. Still 
farther toward the west and in the hills on the 
border of the desert are to be found the rock-hewn 
sepulchers of Egypt's most famous kings, on the 
inside Avails of which tombs are paintings as fresh 
and bright as if just from the hand of the artist, 
though they were painted thirty-five centuries ago. 
An absence of moisture in the Egyptian atmos- 
phere is one reason why so many of her works of 



rf 




The Great Hall of Columns at Karnak 



62 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LAXDS. 



art have come clown to us in almost a perfect state. 
Turning my eyes from the west to the east. I see 
the impressive ruins of the temples of Thebes, 
among which I have been wandering most of the 
day. The sun in the west sinks lower and lower, 
the shadows of the massive columns grow darker 
and darker, and a solemn stillness settles over all 
the place. The day. so emblematic of the life of 
man. is about to close forever. Oh. how short the 
life of mortal man — yea. how short the life, even 
of a nation ! Since first these gigantic stones were 
raised by ancient skill, nations have been born and 
died : thrones have been lifted up and crumbled 
to the ground: and men counted great in their 
generation have long been forgotten. "What am 
I in this great ocean of time ? 

The nations and great characters of history come 
before me as I muse. I see the great struggle for 
glory among men. Assyria, with Xineveh as its 
capital, becomes a world-power, and directs the 
affaire of the nations. Then comes Babylon, that 
great and mighty city so often mentioned in Holy 
Writ. I see Belshazzar feasting with a thousand 
of his lords when the hand writes upon the wall 
the doom of his mighty kingdom. Cyrus, the 
Persian, now leads in the affairs of the nations, 
and Cambyses. a successor on the Persian throne, 
leads his armies up the Nile, even to Thebes. I 
see now the Macedonian phalanx under Alexander 
the Great pushing boldly into the east and shat- 
tering the mighty Persian kingdom. But this 



THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. 



63 



short-lived empire is itself soon broken and scat- 
tered to the four winds of heaven. Then Rome, 
that mightiest of all powers, so fitly called the iron 
kingdom, reaches out its strong arms and grasps 
the inhabitable earth. But the history of the past 
speaks of Rome as it speaks of all the ancient em- 
pires, and tells us of the decline and fall of that 
great kingdom. And from the chaos of this shat- 
tered empire have sprung, after many conflicts 
and changes, the modern countries of Europe. All 
these events and a thousand more of equal im- 
portance have transpired since first these stones 
were placed in the great temples of Thebes. All 
the nations and individuals of ages past have had 
their plans and hopes, but all these are now lying 
low: and still the wheel of time goes on. I now 
am in the activities of life, but must soon lie down 
even as have they. I may have my hopes and joys, 
my ambitions and high aims even as they, but 
these must soon cease forever. Soon my little 
course will have been run, soon my little day will 
have been finished, and I shall have gone the way 
of the countless millions of the ages past. My 
nearest friends may come and drop a few tears 
upon my grave, but soon they themselves will fol- 
low me. The world will not stop when 1 lie down 
in the sleep of death, but the busy whirl of life 
will go on. Yet the grave is the goal for all. 

The gay will laugh 
When thou are gone, the solemn brood of care 
Plod on. and each one as before will chase 



64 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



His favorite phantom; yet all these shall leave 
Their mirth and their employments, and shall come 
And make their bed with thee. 

My life is short, oh, so short ! My days so few 
on earth ! How, then, shall I use my time ? Shall 
I spend my days in following the pleasures of life 
which will waste the body and destroy the soul? 
Shall I use my time in laying up treasures which 
I cannot take with me when I leave this world? 
Shall I spend my life in seeking glory from mortal 
man? Far be this from an eternity -bound crea- 
ture. I must use my life in laying up treasure 
in heaven, where moth and rust cannot consume. 
I must seek the fullness of joy at God's right 
hand, where there are pleasures for evermore. I 
must strive that I may have a friend who will 
stand at my side when all other friends will fail. 
Oh, the brightness of that man's way, who has 
Christ as the shepherd of his soul ! Though he 
walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 
he will fear no evil, for His rod and staff they 
comfort him. Across the Nile the sun is setting, 
kissing the world a sad good-night, and I sing softly 
to myself my favorite hymn : 

Abide with me, fast falls the eventide, 
The darkness deepens, Lord, with me abide; 
When other helpers fail and comforts flee, 
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me. 

I look down upon the ruins of these ancient 
temples and think of the many centuries which 
have intervened since these great stones were 



THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. 



65 



reared. I think of the many generations which 
have come and gone, and realize that in a few 
days I must depart from the scenes of human life. 

Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day, 
Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away; 
Change and decay in all around I see, 
Oh, Thou who changest not, abide with me. 

Father in heaven, help me to see my littleness in 
thy sight. Help me ever to remember the short- 
ness of my days on earth; help me to prepare for 
the eternity beyond. Help me, God, to put 
away all selfish and earthly aims, and live for the 
advancement of truth and righteousness in the 
earth. Help me to become more like Jesus, thine 
only Son, and my beloved Savior. Help me to 
build my hopes on the Rock of Ages, the same yes- 
terday, today and forever. Help me ever to re- 
member that Christ died for me that I should not 
henceforth live unto myself, but unto Him who 
died for me and rose again. 



IX 



PALESTINE IN GENERAL 

BEFORE we enter upon a description of the 
particular places in Palestine, it is well that 
we take a general view of the land. Be- 
cause nearly all the events of the Bible have trans- 
pired in Palestine, perhaps we have the idea that 
this is a large country. It is, however, only a 
small one, being 139 miles long and from 30 to 
50 miles wide, and is about one-sixth larger than 
the state of Connecticut. And yet in this little 
strip of land have happened the greatest events 
which have transpired among the children of men. 

Palestine has only two seasons, — a dry, hot sum- 
mer, and a rainy but comparatively warm winter. 
From the beginning of May to the end of Octo- 
ber, the sky is almost uninterruptedly cloudless, 
and is seldom broken by rain. Although dews fall 
at night, sometimes very heavy, still all vegeta- 
tion is burnt up because of the lack of moisture; 
and many of the springs dry up. Towards the end 
of October, the rainy season is sometimes ushered 
in with thunderstorms called in the Scriptures the 
' 'first" or "former" rains. (Dent. 11:14; 'Joel 



PALESTINE IN GENERAL. 



67 



2:23; James 5:7). These rains soften the parched 
ground so that the farmer can plough. In No- 
vember there is generally fine weather, and in 
December the heavy rains commence and end 
about the close of February. The "latter" rains 
fall in March and April and promote the growth 
of the crops. 

Although there are many hills in Palestine and 
these are covered with stones, still in many of 
the valleys the soil is fertile and good crops are 
grown. Galilee was regarded as Palestine's most 
fertile district in antiquity. Its annual production 
was greater than at present, partly because the 
land was better irrigated and partly because many 
regions now barren were cultivated. The plain of 
Sharon is productive now as it was in Bible times. 
Wheat is the chief product of these plains, from 
which the common people make large flat cakes 
in their antique ovens. These cakes are flexible 
and can be easily rolled up and put in one 's pocket ; 
and I have no doubt that as they are made of the 
whole wheat they contain more nourishment than 
the white bread we eat in America. The vine 
which was cultivated so much in antiquity, almost 
died out under the rule of the Arabs, but is now 
being revived. The olive is still a staple tree in 
Palestine, and the fig tree is still bearing its fruit 
for the people. The carob tree is tolerably com- 
mon and furnishes food for the poorer classes, the 
pods of which are supposed to be the husks which 
the prodigal ate. (Luke 15:16.) 



68 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



The dwellings of the country people are usually 
of clay. In the plains they build with clay bricks 
and in the hills with stone. The houses generally 
contain one or two rooms on a level with the 
ground; fire places and chimneys are unknown. 
The ceilings are of wood-work covered with twigs 
and clay. There are no frame houses in Pales- 
tine, for wood is not sufficiently plentiful for such 
structures. The stone houses are flat on. top with 
the exception of domes which many of them have, 
and parapets, or little walls, which run around the 
edge of the roof. When one goes to the top of 
one of these houses, he thinks of the vision which 
Peter had at Joppa in just such a place. No doubt 
many things in Palestine today present much the 
same appearance that they did in Christ's time, 
even if desolation and barrenness now reign in 
many places where once was fertility and life. 

Palestine has passed through many changes 
since the days of our Savior. In the year 70 A. 
D., the city of Jerusalem was destroyed by the 
Romans for the rebellion it raised against them, 
and the Jews who were not slain were dispersed 
among the nations of the earth. In the seventh 
century the land fell into the hands of the Mo- 
hammedans in their religious political war. For 
several centuries these "infidels" had complete 
control of the "sacred places," and the hardships 
incurred by "Christian" pilgrims in their visits 
to the holy places, stirred Christian Europe to 
wrest the Holy Land from the hands of the Mo- 



PALESTINE IN GENERAL. 



69 



liammedans. Through the eleventh, twelfth and 
thirteenth centuries, Palestine was a battle ground, 
sometimes being in the hands of the Moslems and 
sometimes in the hands of the Christians. Finally 
a barbarous people, now called the Turks, came 
down from the north, overran the land, adopted 
the religion of the Arabs, and are still in pos- 
session of Palestine. The Turkish government is 
one of the greatest despotisms of the earth, 
though there seem to be signs for a change for the 
better in these latter days. The Sultan of Turkey 
oppresses the people to enrich himself personally, 
and he gives the people little or nothing in return 
for their taxes. This empire is loosely thrown to- 
gether and must soon go to pieces. No doubt it 
long ago would have been dissolved, had it not 
been for the jealousy of the European powers, each 
of which fears that the other will get a bigger 
slice than itself. The time has come in the history 
of the world for despotic governments to be 
changed or entirely overthrown. I have no kind 
feelings for a government which has such an arbi- 
trary censorship of the press that they will take 
from a traveler, as they took from me at Smyrna, 
such a harmless work as Baedeker's Guide-Book on 
Palestine and Syria. The sooner such an empire 
is dissolved, the better it will be for humanity. 



X 



MT. CARMEL 

IHE MODERN TOWN of Haifa, which lies 



at the foot of Mt. Carmel, is the first point 



in Palestine proper to which the traveler 
comes as he makes his way south by sea to the land 
of our Lord. Mt. Carmel is really a chain of moun- 
tains extending southeast from the point where it 
touches the sea. The highest point of the moun- 
tains is about 1,800 feet above the sea, and it 
slopes down to a promontory to the water's edge, 
where the Carmelite monastery is situated, 480 
feet above the sea. The dews from the ocean keep 
the vegetation green even in the long dry summer, 
and thus it is a pleasing exception to the dryness 
which prevails in Palestine at that season. In de- 
scribing in prophetic words the beauty of the 
Church, Isaiah (35:1, 2) alludes to the pleasant- 
ness in Carmel in these words, "The wilderness 
and the dry land shall be glad ; and the desert shall 
rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom 
abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and sing- 
ing; the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, 
the excellency of Carmel and Sharon; they shall 
see the glory of Jehovah, the excellency of our 




MT. CARMEL. 



71 



God." This mountain seems to have been sacred 
to the Jews, for they had an altar of the Lord 
there, (1 Kings 18:19, 30); and old Elijah, the 
prophet of Jehovah, often resorted to it in the 
days of his troubles, (2 Kings 2:25; 4:25). It was 
at this mountain that Elijah had his experience 
with the prophets of Baal. 

The day was hot when we took our umbrellas 
and started for a long jaunt up the mountain to 
behold the sights and meditate on the events of 
ages past. The view of the sea from the top fully 
repays for the toil. At the height of a thousand 
feet, one obtains a grand picture of the Great, or 
Mediterranean, Sea, which has played such an im- 
portant part in the history of the ancient nations. 
Weary with the climb, we sit down to rest and to 
drink in the scenery and to meditate upon events of 
sacred history. Under the shade of our umbrellas, 
we read of Elijah and the troublous times through 
which he went ; and it all seems so real. 

The children of Israel have wandered far from 
the commandments which the Lord had given them 
and are now following the imaginations of their 
own hearts. Though he had told them plainly that 
they must not make any graven images to bow 
down to them, still we see them now worshiping 
Baal almost universally. King Ahab and his wick- 
ed wife are responsible for much of this apostasy in 
Israel. They have killed ail the prophets of the 
Lord they can find, and are feeding the prophets of 
Baal at their own table. Elijah ; it seems, is about 



72 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



the only true prophet left, and in his loneliness he 
cries to God, ' ' The children of Israel have forsaken 
thy covenant, thrown down thy altars, and slain thy 
prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am 
left; and they seek my life to take it away." (1 
Kings 19:10.) But God comforts the old prophet 
by saying that there are "seven thousand in Israel, 
all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal." 
(1 Kings 19:18.) 

What a blow this bit of history is to those re- 
ligious people who are determined to follow the 
crowd, and what a source of comfort to those who 
walk in the right way, though they are far in the 
minority ! Many today who are loud in their pre- 
tensions to loyalty to Christ are following a religion 
as different from the teachings of Jesus as that of 
the worshipers of Baal was different from the 
Jewish law. These people despise those who are 
contending for the simplicity that is in Christ, and 
had they lived in Elijah's day they would have de- 
spised him. too. No doubt many who are contending 
earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints, 
feel sometimes that they are alone as Elijah did. 
How sad to see so few who will contend for the 
right, no matter what it may bring to them ! But 
God has reserved many thousands who have not yet 
corrupted His Word, and who will continue thus 
until they die. It is not numbers that counts with 
God at all, but it is faithfulness to his Word. Help 
us, Father, to be faithful to Thee, though we may 
be hounded as was Elijah of old ! 



MT. CAR MEL. 



73 



As we continue to read the Sacred Volume, we 
come to the meeting between Ahab and Elijah. 
When the King sees him, he cries, "Is it thou, thou 
troubler of Israel?" But the old prophet an- 
swered. "I have not troubled Israel; but thou and 
thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the 
commandments of Jehovah, and thou hast followed 
the Baalim." What human nature is displayed in 
this angry question of Ahab ! He had sold himself 
to do evil, and every one who tried to stay his down- 
ward course was a disturber among the people. Do 
we not see the same thing manifested today? Let 
an Elijah oppose the corruptions of religious people 
about him, and they will call him a mover of sedi- 
tion, a pestilent fellow and a disturber of Israel. 
But it is not he who contends for the simple teach- 
ings of Jesus and opposes all departures therefrom, 
who is a disturber in Israel and a mover of sedition ; 
but it is he who has left the Word of God and is 
following the vanity of his own heart. 

The trial which Elijah here made between his God 
and Baal was a memorable one. The prophet pro- 
poses to the people that he put a bullock on an altar 
and cry unto his God, and that the prophets of Baal 
put a bullock on an altar and they cry unto their 
god ; and that the god who answers by fire is the one 
they should serve. The people cheerfully consent 
unto the trial. The prophets of Baal dance about 
their altar from morn till noon, and from noon till 
eve; they cut themselves with their knives and 
lances till the blood gushes out; but there is no 



74 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



voice. In the midst of it all, Elijah mocks them, 
saying, "Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is 
musing, or is gone aside, or he is on a journey, or 
peradventure he sleepeth and must be awaked. " 
Later on, Elijah calls the people together and re- 
pairs the altar of the Lord which had been thrown 
down ; and at the time of the evening sacrifice, of- 
fers a simple prayer to God over the bullock which 
had been prepared. No sooner has he ceased than 
fire comes from God and destroys the sacrifice. 
When the people see it, it seems to dawn on their 
minds what they have been doing, and in their re- 
pentance they cry, "Jehovah he is God; Jehovah 
he is God. ' ' Elijah then takes the four hundred and 
fifty prophets of Baal to the brook Kishon, near the 
foot of Mt. Carmel, and there slays them. Thus did 
Elijah rid the people of the real disturbers of 
Israel. 



XI 



NAZARETH 

IT IS at the city of Haifa, near the foot of Mt. 
Carmel, that we make arrangements for our 
trip on horseback into the interior of Palestine. 
We can not go by rail, as there are only two rail- 
roads in the land— one running from Joppa to 
Jerusalem, and the other from Haifa to Damascus 
by the way of the Sea of Galilee. We can not go 
even by carriage to many of the most prominent 
places in this oppressed land, for there are few car- 
riage roads here. Travelers must saddle horses and 
take to the bridle paths, if they would see most of 
the places so famed in sacred history. There are 
only two of us in our little company, and after 
making a contract with a dragoman, or guide, and 
a muleteer to care for the horses, the four of us 
start for Nazareth, twenty-three miles away. As we 
travel along, we obtain a fine view of the hills of 
Galilee, and we remember that many Bible charac- 
ters whom we love have traveled over these very 
hills. The apostles and prophets and inspired 
scribes have looked upon these same hills upon 
which we are gazing today; yea, the Son of God 



76 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



himself spent part of his sinless life in these very 
regions through which we are passing now. Through 
the whole day we enjoy these scenes and the pleas- 
ant thoughts they bring to our minds, and towards 
evening we wind our way into the city of Nazareth. 

This city was unknown in Old Testament times 
and seems to have been an insignificant place in the 
days of Christ, for some seemed to think that noth- 
ing great or good could come out of Nazareth. (1 
John 1:46.) The city has passed through many 
changes since the time of Jesus, sometimes dwin- 
dling away almost to nothing; and at other times 
increasing to a prosperous little city, chiefly per- 
haps through the influx of pilgrims. Today the 
city has a mixed population of about 11,000, con- 
sisting of Greek Catholics of two kinds, Roman 
Catholics, Mohammedans, Maronites, and Protest- 
ants, each religious community clustering together 
in a particular part of the place. Most of the inhab- 
itants are engaged in farming and gardening, and 
some of them in handicrafts, and in the cotton and 
grain trade. "The district," says Baedeker, "is 
comparatively rich and the Christian farmers have 
retained many peculiarities of costume which are 
best observed at weddings. On festivals the women 
wear gay, embroidered jackets, and have their fore- 
heads and breasts laden with coins, while the riding 
camel which forms an indispensable feature in such 
a procession is smartly caparisoned with shawls 
and strings of coins." While passing through Pal- 
estine, the intelligent student gives little credence 



78 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



to the monkish tales with which he meets. ; The Ro- 
man Catholics have built a church over the place 
where they say the house of Mary once stood, and 
where, they say, Mary received the announcement 
that she should have a son. Romish tradition says 
that at one time when the Muslims were about to 
take Nazareth, angels picked the house up and car- 
ried it off to save it from desecration ; and the house 
can now be seen in Italy ! The church is called the 
Church of the Annunciation, and the Greek Cath- 
olics also have in another part of the town a Church 
of the Annunciation where they say Gabriel ap- 
peared to Mary. From these duplicate places, many 
of which we find in Palestine, we see that no confi- 
dence can be placed in the localization of all the 
little points in biblical history. Hills, cities ; streams, 
lakes, mountains, etc.. can be identified with consid- 
erable accuracy; but not so spots which have no 
means of identification. They exhibit here the 
workshop of Joseph, where he worked at the car- 
penter's trade, and where the boy Jesus helped him. 
Of course we know that this is not the same house 
in which they worked, nor probably the same spot, 
but we do know that it was in just such a place as 
this that both Joseph and Jesus spent many days 
working at the carpenter's trade. Jesus, our great 
High Priest and Mediator, knows how to sympa- 
thize with us in our daily toil. What a consolation 
it should be to those of us who have to work hard 
for our daily bread to know that Christ has done 
the same ! Our hearts should be made lighter for 



NAZARETH. 



79 



the duties of life, and our love should be made 
stronger toward Him who has done these things for 
an example to us. 

As we wander about this place, we think of how 
the child Jesus spent his boyhood and early man- 
hood here. After the little affair at Jerusalem 
with the learned men when he was twelve years of 
age, he returned with his parents to Nazareth and 
was subject to them. What a noble example Jesus 
becomes for the entire human race ! Not only is 
he such for grown men and women, but for chil- 
dren as well. Obedience to proper authority is the 
only safeguard to society. God intended that the 
older and more experienced in life should guide 
the younger. He has ordained that parents should 
teach their children what is right, and that the 
children should obey their parents. The citizens 
of a nation are to a great extent obedient to the 
laws of their country in the proportion that the 
children are obedient to their parents. Destroy 
the parental authority, and the nation is doomed. 
Under the Old Testament, God ordained that 
children should obey their parents; and now 
Jesus who is the exemplar for all nations of the 
world, sets the example in his childhood. My dear 
young friend, if you want to please your Savior, 
you must follow his example and be obedient to 
your parents in the Lord. It is true that parents 
sometimes wish their children to do that which 
is wrong; but if you have come to that age when 
you know that certain things they require of you 



80 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



are wrong, then you are to "obey God rather than 
man. ' ' But in all the other things of life, yon nmst 
follow the example of Jesus and be subject to your 
parents. Xo matter how good you may be in other 
respects, if you will not obey your father and 
mother you will not be accepted by your Savior. 

The most important thing of interest in 
Nazareth is an ancient spring of water. The 
water is brought by a conduit a little ways to a 
point called Mary's "Well, where women are to be 
seen constantly drawing water in pitchers. It is 
interesting to stand here and see the women and 
girls coming and going with their tall earthen 
pitchers on their heads. Xo doubt this is the way 
they carried their water three thousand years ago. 
We do not see the men at any time help in this 
work of carrying water. In this Oriental country 
where the pure religion of Christ is almost un- 
known and where Mohammedanism is the chief 
belief, we behold the degradation of woman. The 
followers of Mahomet look upon women as an in- 
ferior order of beings and generally dislike to 
see them praying or occupying themselves with 
religion. Sometimes a man can be seen riding 
the horse or donkey, and his wife walking in front 
or behind. In Christian countries, it is just the 
other way.— the man walks and lets the woman 
ride. What has made the difference? Our only 
answer can be that it is the religion of Jesus. 
God never intended for woman to be a mere slave 
to man. In the beginning he made one man and 



NAZARETH. 



81 



one woman, and intended that man with his 
coarser nature should go out into the hard world, 
and with his broader experience should guide the 
family; and that woman with her finer nature 
should stand at his side as a helpmate to en- 
courage and help him in the battle for bread and 
in the guidance of the little ones. It is true the 
Jews departed from the original pattern, but the 
true relation between husband and wife has been 
reasserted by Christ, and through his religion has 
blessed the world. When we compare Christian 
with heathen and Mohammedan countries, we 
must conclude that Jesus is the one who has raised 
woman from a mere slave of man to a helpmate; 
and if any class of people should appreciate the 
religion of Christ more than another, it certainly 
is womankind. 

But as we stand here by the spring in Nazareth, 
watching the women and girls coming and going 
with their pitchers, and the men and boys coming 
to slake their thirst, and remember that this is 
the only spring in the city, and that it has been 
here for hundreds of years, we know that the boy 
Jesus came here many times to quench his thirst 
just as they are doing now. How real it all 
seems ! 



XII 



CANA OF GALILEE, TIBERIAS, 
AND THE SEA OF 
GALILEE 

FROM NAZARETH we travel northeast 
about six hours' journey to the Sea of 
Galilee. On the route we pass a village 
of about 600 inhabitants, which is supposed to be 
the Cana of Galilee, where Jesus turned the water 
into wine. (John 2:1-11.) A Romish chapel is 
built over the spot where they say the miracle 
was performed. In the Greek Church is shown 
an earthen-ware jar which is said to have been 
used on the occasion of the miracle, and while 
we do not believe the tradition, we recognize that 
just such jars were used in those days. 

The Sea of Galilee is a beautiful sight to behold 
from the hills which surround it. The traveler 
coming from the west does not see it until it sud- 
denly breaks into view causing him unconsciously 
to utter a word of surprise and pleasure. On the 
east of the sea are the hills of Gennesaret, and on 
the west are the hills of Galilee on which we are 



84 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



now standing, with an opening between them on 
the north for the Jordan River to flow into the 
lake, and an opening on the south for the river to 
flow out of the lake in its meandering course to- 
ward the Dead Sea ; among which hills this famous 
sea nestles like a child resting in its mother's 
bosom. This body of water is thirteen miles long, 
and six miles broad at its widest point. It is 681 
feet below the Mediterranean Sea, and is from 
130 to 150 feet deep, the depth varying with the 
season. In the early spring the vegetation is 
beautifully green, and because of the low situation 
of the lake, a sub-tropical vegetation is produced, 
only, however, for a short time. The border of 
this lake was once lined with many and prosperous 
people, and its surface was dotted with many 
active little ships; but now there can be found 
outside of Tiberias only a few villages and only 
three or four miserable little boats. 

From our beautiful point of view, we descend 
the hill to Tiberias, the chief city of the Jordan 
Valley. According to Josephus, the building of 
this city was finished about 22 A. D., and al- 
though it was a prominent place in the days of 
Christ's ministry and the days of the apostles, 
little is said about it in the New Testament, be- 
cause, perhaps, our Savior and His ambassadors 
seldom or never visited the place as there were 
few Jews there. After the destruction of Jerusa- 
lem, however, Tiberias became the headquarters 
for the Jews in those parts, and here have lived 



CAN A AND THE SEA OF GALILEE. 



85 



the greatest of the Hebrew rabbis, and from this 
place has come the best literature of the Jews 
outside of the Bible. Tiberias now has a popu- 
lation of about 4,000 inhabitants. At our hotel 
we eat fish for supper, and we remember how 
Peter and Andrew spent many days gathering this 
food in their nets. 

Of course we must take a ride over this famous 
sea, and after making arrangements we sail away. 
As we look back at the departing shore, we re- 
member how Christ once pushed a boat out from 
the beach a little ways and taught the multitudes 
which were croAvding to hear him. Over on the 
east are the hills of Gennesaret where the swine 
ran violently down a steep place into the sea. As 
we look about us, surrounded as we are with hills, 
we see that we are in a great basin, down into 
which, we are told, storms often come suddenly. 
Because of the suddenness of some of these storms, 
many lives have been lost in the lake, lying now 
so peacefully before us. We in America say that 
a storm came up ; but on the Sea of Galilee they 
say that a storm came down upon them. To the 
sailors upon this little sea, a storm has gathered 
beyond the hills before they know it, in many 
instances not giving them time to get to the shore, 
and it swoops down upon them like an eagle after 
its prey. The destructive higher critics try to 
make us believe that the < New Testament books 
were written many years after the time to which 
they are ascribed and in a different land, but the 



86 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



harmony of the incidental geographical details of 
the Bible to the facts in the case, show ns that 
these men knew whereof they spake. 

It was on this little sea troubled with a great 
storm that Jesus walked at one time, and it was 
here that he then showed his power over the ele- 
ments of heaven. He was crossing the waters 
when a storm arose while he was in the hold of the 
ship asleep. His disciples being afraid awoke 
him saying, "Save, Lord, we perish." But he 
answered them. ■ 1 AVhy are ye fearful, ye of little 
faith?" Then he arose and rebuked the winds 
and the sea, and there was a great calm. Thus 
did Jesus manifest his power to those who have 
written these things for us. 

As these memories from sacred history pass 
through our minds while we are sailing over these 
waves, we quietly hum to ourselves the familiar 
song : 

Jesus, Savior, pilot me 
Over life's tempestuous sea; 
Unknown waves before me roll, 
Hiding rock and treacherous shoal; 
Chart and compass came from thee; 
Jesus, Savior, pilot me. 

As a mother stills her child, 
Thou canst hush the ocean wild; 
Boisterous waves obey thy will 
When thou sayst to them, "Be still!" 
Wondrous Sovereign of the sea; 
Jesus, Savior, pilot me. 



CANA AND THE SEA OF GALILEE. 

When at last I near the shore, 
And the fearful breakers roar 
'Twixt me and the peaceful rest; 
Then, while leaning on thy breast 
May I hear thee say to me, 
'Tear not, I will pilot thee." 



XIII 



BETHSAIDA, CHORAZIN AND 
CAPERNAUM 

OUR LITTLE BOAT sails on till we reach 
the northern boundary of the sea, where 
we find the ruins of ancient, populous 
cities. It is certain that these piles of stone mark 
the sites of Chorazin and Capernaum. The city 
of Bethsaida was situated a few miles away and 
two or three miles back from the sea. These 
cities were lively places in the days of Christ 
and were often visited by him. Wherever Jesus 
went, he showed by the miracles he performed 
that he was a messenger from God. In these 
cities he manifested his power, and actually per- 
formed "most of his mighty works here." And 
yet these people were so set in wrong doing that 
they would not repent of their evil ways. I fancy 
now I see the Savior walking among the people 
of these cities, teaching His wonderful doctrines 
and commanding the people to repent. Instead 
of being convinced by His miracles and of listen- 
ing to the great Teacher, they deliberately turn 
away and follow the imaginations of their own 



BETHSAIDA, CHORAZIN AND CAPERNAUM. 89 

hearts. From their deliberate rejection of Jesus, 
we see that our Savior has passed through the 
same discouragements which every gospel preacher, 
and in fact every active Christian, is compelled 
to pass through. As in many places people in 
the latter times turn from the truth, so did they 
in Jesus' day. In the same way that many stop 
their ears today, so did they in the days of our 
Lord. The gospel of Jesus was not popular when 
it was first given, and it is not popular in the 
twentieth century. When Jesus saw that He 
could do these people no good, He turned away in 
His sadness and pronounced a woe upon them. 
As we sail away from these ruins, I look back 
upon the stones of the cities, scattered along the 
shore, and fancy that Christ sailed away just as 
I am, and that He gazed back on the disobedient 
cities, whose ruins now lie before me, and said, 
' 'Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Beth- 
saida ! for if the mighty works had been done in 
Tyre and Sidon which were done in you. they 
would have repented long ago in sackcloth and 
ashes. But I say unto you, it shall be more toler- 
able for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment, 
than for you. And thou, Capernaum, shalt thou 
be exalted unto heaven? thou shalt go down unto 
Hades; for if the mighty works had been done in 
Sodom which were done in thee, it would have 
remained until this day. But I say unto thee 
that it shall be more tolerable for the land of 



90 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee." 
(Matt. 12:21-24, R. V.) 

What an awful lesson these sad events convey 
to us! Disobedience to the law of God will never 
go unpunished, especially when we have such 
chances to know the truth as these cities, Jesus 
here brings to our minds the thought of man's 
responsibility. The greater our opportunities of 
knowing and obeying the truth, the greater our 
accountability to Him. We sometimes think of 
the heathen who have never heard of the one true 
God and are still worshiping idols, and we ex- 
press our pity for them; and yet, dear reader, do 
you know that there is a better prospect for those 
earnest, honest people who are doing the best they 
know how, than for you and me who have so much 
knowledge and yet are lukewarm in living up to 
it? This certainly is true if, as Christ says, it 
will be better for Sodom at the judgment than for 
Capernaum. We condemn the ignorant heathen 
for their idolatry, and yet there are many today 
who profess to be Christians who are just as much 
idolaters as those who bow to an image of wood 
or stone. Paul says that " covetousness is 
idolatry," and that "no idolater hath any inheri- 
tance in the kingdom of God and Christ." How 
sad to know that many Christians think that they 
will be saved, when the truth is that they will be 
lost for their covetousness ! Are you one of them, 
dear reader? 



BETH SAID A, CHORAZIN AND CAPERNAUM. 91 

And yon, clear friend, who have never obeyed 
the gospel, what is your prospect for the future? 
You believe the Bible and know you should obey 
it, and yet you have made no effort to do so. 
Over and over again you have heard the invitation, 
and each time you have turned a deaf ear. Your 
Christian friends have tried to interest you in 
your own eternal welfare, but you have turned 
them away and treated them as meddlers. You 
have shunned those who you think will talk to 
you on religious matters, and you have stayed 
away from the house of God lest your conscience 
be quickened to your duty. The thought of death 
you have tried to banish from your mind by losing 
yourself in business or pleasure. You can not be 
happy in your rebellion to God, for you cannot 
get rid of the thought that you are unprepared 
to die. You look down upon the cold and silent 
form of a brother, a sister, a father, a mother, 
your wife 3 or perhaps your own dear child. Your 
mind goes back over your own sinful life, and 
you say to yourself, Oh, what if that were I, for 
I am not prepared to die? Then you turn away 
from the mound where the form of your loved 
one is laid and you push from your mind the 
thought of death and the hereafter. Again you 
lose yourself in the busy whirl of life, and try to 
forget your sorrows in the fleeting joys of the 
passing day. Thus for many years do you push 
forward the evil day, and continue to rebel against 
God. Some time, however, you will not be able 



92 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



to banish these things from your mind, for it will 
be you, not your friend or relative, who is lying 
upon the bed for the last time. You have spent 
your life seeking the pleasure or honor or riches 
which this world can give, and now you must give 
them all up. You have lived for yourself and 
not for others. You leave your thousands be- 
hind where moth and rust corrupt, and you have 
not one cent ahead. As your eye grows dim and 
you see the world with its riches and pleasure and 
glory slipping away from you, you realize, when 
it is too late, that "all is vanity and a striving 
after wind." Two things you can not escape,— 
death and the judgment; for God says, "It is ap- 
pointed unto man once to die, and after this the 
judgment." For Tyre and Sidon, and Sodom 
and Gomorrha, there may be some excuse; but for 
Chorazin and Capernaum, and for you, my friend, 
there is no excuse, for you have fully heard the 
word of warning. Turn, then, oh turn, for why 
will you die? 



XIV 



MT. TABOR, NAIN, ENDOR, 
SHUNEM, JEZREEL, MT. 
GILBOA, AND SAMARIA 

FROM TIBERIAS we go back to Nazareth by 
a route different from the one we came 
there in order that we may visit Mt. 
Tabor. This mountain rises about two thousand 
feet above the sea, and the top is a plateau of 
about four square miles. This is the place to 
which Deborah directed Barak to assemble his 
army. (Judges 4.) In Psalm 89 :12, Tabor and 
Hermon are extolled together, "The north and 
the south, thou hast created them; Tabor and 
Hermon rejoice in thy name." From an early 
time, Tabor has been regarded as the mount of 
transfiguration, yet there is no positive testimony 
to that effect. The Roman and Greek Catholics 
have each a monastery here, the former having 
three chapels in theirs to commemorate the three 
tabernacles which Peter proposed to build for 
Moses, Elijah and Christ. The record says that 
Peter didn't know what he was talking about. 
In other words, he was confused and thought he 



94 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



had to say something. When a religious body 
will try to carry out the words of a man even 
when inspiration says that he didn't know what he 
was talking about, it has reached the limit of 
blindness. If these had studied the inspired 
writings of Peter as they should, they would not 
have apostatized from the truth as they have. 

The view from this mountain is one never to 
be forgotten. Far away to the north rises the 
majestic Hermon, while nearer than it are the 
hills of Galilee. To the east the north end of the 
Sea of Galilee can be seen and the mountains be- 
yond it. To the south is the plain of Esdrrelon, 
stretching out before us for many miles, in which 
raged the battle of Barak and Sisera. To the 
west rises Mt. Carmel, running up to the edge of 
the Great Sea. No doubt Jesus stood upon this 
mountain gazing over the works of his Father, 
just as we are doing today. On this mountain and 
around it, many battles were ostensively fought 
in Christ's name in the days of the Crusades, and 
yet they were not fought by His authority, for He 
says: "They that take the sword, shall perish 
with the sword." 

From Nazareth we start the next day on our 
direct trip south to Jerusalem. We descend into 
the great and fertile plain of Esdraelon, and 
make our way toward the south. In this plain, we 
cross the great caravan route from Egypt to 
Damascus, over which the camels have been carry- 
ing the grain of Egypt and the wares of Damascus 



MT. TABOR, NAIN, ENDOR. 



9-5 



for thousands of years. We look ahead and actu- 
ally see a train of about twenty-five camels winding 
their way to Damascus with their burden of wheat. 
It was to merchantmen on this very road that 
Joseph was sold, four thousand years ago. To the 
east of us lies Mt. Tabor which yesterday we as- 
cended and from which we had such a fine view of 
the north of Palestine. South of it is a mountain 
called Little Hermon, eighteen hundred feet high, 
which is not known in the Bible by that name. 
And still further south is Mt. Gilboa, twelve 
hundred feet high, mentioned several times in the 
Old Testament. On the northern border of Little 
Hermon, are the two miserable villages of Nain 
and Endor. The former was the place where 
Christ raised the widow's son (Luke 7:11-15); 
and the latter, the place where Saul consulted the 
woman of the familiar spirit on the eve of the 
disastrous battle of Gilboa (1 Sam. 28:7-20). 
Farther south is the village of Shunem, where 
the Shunammite woman lived, whose son Elisha 
restored to life. (2 Kings 4, 8.) As we pass 
through Mohammedan villages, we notice that many 
children run after us and make a great noise. We 
notice that they are more noisy in this village of 
Shunem than in any through which we have yet 
passed. We ask the dragoman what they are 
crying, ana he answers that they are saying, 
''Cursed be your father, cursed be your mother, 
cursed be ye; ye are Christians." Of course we 
pay no attention to the Mohammedan zeal which 



96 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



has been put into the heads of the little ones. 

Our journey soon brings us to the foot of Mt. 
Gilboa to a miserable little village which now 
stands on the ancient Jezreel. Near this point 
the battle was fought between Saul and the 
Philistines. (1 Sam. 31.) The Israelites were 
posted around Jezreel, and the Philistines were en- 
camped at Shunem. Saul fell here, hence David 
in his dirge says, "Ye mountains of Gilboa, let 
there be no dew; neither let there be rain upon 
you." (1 Sam. 1:21.) Jezreel was afterwards the 
residence of Ahab and Jezebel, (1 Kings 18:45, 
46) ; and near to it was the vineyard of Naboth. 
(1 Kings 21). Finally, our day's trip from 
Nazareth brings us to a place called Jenin, at the 
southern end of the great plain through which we 
have been traveling, and here we stay for the 
night. 

On the morrow we rise for our journey to Nab- 
lous, ancient Shechem. On our way we pass 
Samaria, the ancient capital of the kingdom of 
Israel. When the palace of Omri, king of Israel, 
at Tirzah, burned down, he purchased a hill from 
Shemer and erected upon it a new residence called 
Shomeron, or Samaria. (1 Kings 16:21.) The 
town continued to be the capital of the northern 
kingdom until it was captured by Shalmaneser, 
722 B. C, after a seige of three years. (2 Kings 
17.) Samaria was a prominent place in the days 
of the apostles, and it was to this place that Philip 
went to preach the gospel. (Acts 8.) Samaria 



MT. TABOR, NAIN, ENDOR. 



07 



was built upon a hill, the top of which is fifteen 
hundred feet above the sea, but the high altitude 
of the surrounding country makes the hill seem 
only a few hundred feet high. There are many 
ruins on this hill, telling of the former greatness 
of this city. She is now indeed Ichabod, for her 
glory has departed. Finally, we pass between the 
two mountains, Ebel and Gerizim, and stop in 
the ancient Shechem. 



XV 



SHECHEM, MT. EBEL, MT. GERI- 
ZIM AND JACOB'S WELL. 

THE MODERN CITY of Nabulus is the 
ancient city of Sicliem, or Shechem. It was 
the scene of the episode of Abimelech. 
(Judges 9.) Under Rehoboam the national as- 
sembly was held here, (1 Kings 12), which re- 
sulted in the final separation of the northern 
tribes from the southern. Jeroboam chose 
Shechem for his residence. The place now has 
about 24,000 inhabitants, and is beautifully lo- 
cated between the two mountains of Ebel and 
Gerizim. Twenty-two springs furnish water for 
the people, about half of which are perennial. The 
environs of the city are very fertile. Immediately 
on the north of Shechem rises Mt. Ebel to a height 
of 3,077 feet above the sea, and 1,207 feet above 
the city; and immediately on the south is Mt. 
Gerizim, 2,848 feet above the sea, and about 1,000 
feet above the city. It was between these moun- 
tains that Joshua read the blessings and curses to 
the people after they had crossed the Jordan into 
the promised land. 



SHECHEM— JACOB'S WELL. 



99 



Mt. Gerizim is noted especially to Bible students 
because it was the sacred mountain of the Samar- 
itans. The religion of the Samaritans, you know, 
was a mixture of Judaism and heathenism, and the 
circumstances of its origin are familiar to Old 
Testament students. When the northern kingdom, 
called the kingdom of Israel, became so wicked that 
the cup of their iniquity was full, God sent Shal- 
maneser, the king of Assyria, against them. This 
king took Samaria, 722 B. C, and carried the ten 
tribes away into captivity. The same king brought 
other nations from his great kingdom, and put 
them in the land whence the ten tribes had been 
taken. "When the Lord sent wild beasts down upon 
them, they said that it was because they did not 
worship the god of the former inhabitants of the 
land. The king then told them to bring back one 
of the priests who had been carried away into 
captivity, to teach them how to worship the God 
of Israel. The priest taught them the worship of 
God according to the law of Moses ; but the people 
mixed with it the worship of their own deities, so 
that it could be said that "they feared Jehovah 
and served their own gods." When the kingdom 
of Judah, the southern kingdom of the Jews, had 
come back from their seventy years of Babylonish 
captivity to build again Jerusalem and their tem- 
ple, the Samaritans proposed to help the Jews 
saying that they sought their God the same as the 
Jews themselves. When the Israelites refused to 
have anything to do with them, the Samaritans 



100 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



founded a holy city and sanctuary of their own. 
Mt. Gerizim became their holy mountain where 
they built a temple, and as Shechem, their holy 
city, grew in importance, the city of Samaria de- 
clined. The worship of the Samaritans seemed to 
have become purer in its form, and that which 
they established at Mt. Gerizim became a rival 
religion with that at Jerusalem. Enmity has ex- 
isted between the two peoples ever since the re- 
building of Jerusalem about 500 B. C. 

The Samaritans have passed through many 
changes, and a few of them have come down to the 
present day. Their religion is very much like 
that of the Jews, for they have the pentateuch for 
their sacred book. "They are strict monotheists, " 
says Baedeker, "and abhor all images and all ex- 
pressions whereby human attributes are ascribed 
to God. They believe in good and evil spirits, and 
in the resurrection and last judgment. They ex- 
pect the Messiah to appear 6,000 years after the 
creation of the world, but they do not consider 
that he will be greater than Moses. Of the Old 
Testament they possess the pentateuch only, in the 
Old Hebrew, or ' Samaritan writing. Their liter- 
ature consists chiefly of prayers and hymns. Their 
oldest chronicles date from the 12th century. 
Three times a year, viz., at the festival of un- 
leavened bread, the feast of weeks, and the feast of 
tabernacles, they make a pilgrimage to the sacred 
Mt. Gerizim. They celebrate all the Mosaic festi- 
vals, but they offer sacrifices at the passover only. 



shechem— Jacob's well. 



101 



Bigamy is permitted if the first wife be childless, 
and when a married man dies, his nearest rela- 
tion, but not his brother, is bound to marry the 
widow." There are only between one and two 
hundred Samaritans left, and these no doubt will 
soon be gone. 

As I wandered about on the top of Mt. Gerizim 
among the ruins of the Samaritan temple and other 
public and private buildings, I wondered why that 
hybrid nation had been brought into existence. 
The Bible says that God sent lions down upon 
those heathen people when they first settled in 
that land, and that caused them to seek the relig- 
ion of the Jews. It seems that it has been the 
work of God, in part at least, that they have been 
a mixed nation of worshipers. God had given 
his word to the world, and that two nations might 
speak for the law of Moses instead of one, he 
places the pentateuch in the hands of the Samar- 
itans. These people have a manuscript of the 
pentateuch which is perhaps the oldest in the 
world of that part of God's word. In all proba- 
bility it is as old as the Christian era, and perhaps 
much older. Now when we remember that the 
Samaritans have been the enemies of both the Jews 
and the Christians, and thus have not obtained 
their writings from either since they became an 
organized people, about 500 B. C, and when we 
remember that their pentateuch agrees with ours in 
all its essentials, we have strong evidence for the 
antiquity and integrity of the five books of Moses. 



102 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



The last place we visit on and around the sacred 
mountain is Jacob's Well, on the northeast border 
of the foot of Mt. Gerizim. It lies on the main road 
between Jerusalem and Galilee, and is no doubt 
the one where Jesus talked to the woman of 
Samaria. (John 4.) The woman said, "The well 
is deep ; ' ' and such indeed is true even today, 
though much trash has fallen into it, for it is 75 
feet deep and 7 1-2 feet in diameter. "Our fath- 
ers worshiped in this mountain," said the woman, 
referring to Mt. Gerizim, "and ye say that in 
Jerusalem is the place to worship," bringing out 
the opposition between the worship of the two 
nations. Christ then used the opportunity to 
teach that the essence of his religion is entirely 
spiritual and that henceforth sacred places and 
things will be unknown forever. "Woman, be- 
lieve me," He said, "the hour cometh, when 
neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall 
ye worship the Father. * * * But the hour 
cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers 
shall worship the Father in spirit and truth." 
What a lesson we learn here at Jacob's Well at the 
foot of Mt. Gerizim! Had this teaching of Jesus 
been followed, there would have been no Roman- 
ism, Protestantism, nor any other ism except 
simple Christ-ism, for we all would have been one 
in Him. To worship God in spirit is to leave out 
all rites and ceremonies not fully understood by 
the worshipers, and all so-called sacred places 
and things, and center our minds and hearts and 



shechem— Jacob's well. 



103 



lives on God and his beloved Son, wherever we may 
be. The Romish ceremonies performed in an un- 
known tongue are meaningless to the mass of the 
worshipers, and this is contrary to this spiritual 
service which Christ said should be rendered to 
God. To worship God in truth is to worship Him 
according to His word : for Jesus says, "Thy word 
is truth." Had we Protestants followed God's 
"truth" as we claim that we do, instead of our 
"feelings," "the spirit of the times," and the 
doctrines of men, as we actually are doing, there 
would not be the confusion among us that there 
is, and Ave should be more in favor with God. May 
the Father help us to make our worship both 
spiritual and according to His truth, as our 
Master says it should be. 



XVI 



JOPPA. 



T SHECHEM we dismiss our muleteer and 



dragoman, and finish our journey to Jerusa- 



lem by carriage, zigzagging by the way of 
'Joppa. On the way to Joppa as along other 
routes, we pass some of the old-time threshing- 
floors, like those mentioned in the Bible. Perhaps 
some of us think these floors are made of boards, 
but in this we are deceived. These threshing- 
floors are simply leveled places with the dirt 
packed hard^ and they are usually built on a hill 
so as to catch the breeze. The unthreshed grain 
is scattered over it, and a sled-like arrangement 
with a flat bottom is drawn round and round over 
the grain. The sharp stones in the bottom of the 
sled serve the place of the teeth on the cylinder 
in a threshing machine. When the grain has been 
ground sufficiently in this way, the fan is then 
used, which is not as some might suppose an in- 
strument for making a breeze, but a wooden scoop 
much like a snow shovel, and which is used to 
throw the mixed grain and chaff into the air. The 
breeze carries the chaff away, and the grain falls 
into a pile by itself. This process takes a long 




JOPPA. 



105 



while to get the wheat entirely separated from the 
chaff. The wheat is then gathered and the chaff 
is destroyed. The same process was in vogue in 
Palestine f onr thousand years ago. As I stand and 
watch them separating their grain from the chaff 
in this old-fashioned way, I think of John's 
words concerning the final separation of the good 
from the bad, "AVhose fan is in his hand," said 
he, "and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing- 
floor ; and he will gather his wheat into his garner, 
but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable 
fire." 

After a tiresome drive of forty-two miles, we 
reach Joppa ; our destination, late in the evening. 
This city of 35,000 inhabitants is on the sea coast, 
and is the landing place for travelers coming to 
Jerusalem. There is no harbor here, as is true 
of most of these coast cities in Syria, and the peo- 
ple alight from the steamship into little boats 
and are rowed to the shore. When the sea is 
rough, the getting into the little boat is not only 
not pleasant but dangerous. You descend the 
stairway on the side of the ship to a platform near 
the water's edge. If the waves are high the row 
boat is tossed like a cork, and you have to jump 
into it, or be thrust into it by the seamen, when a 
wave brings it near the platform. You feel relieved 
when you are safe in a seat in the little bark. 

Joppa is an ancient city and is mentioned sev- 
eral times in the Bible. It was here that Jonah 
purchased passage on a ship when he was trying to 



106 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



escape from his duty in preaching God's Word. 
In the days of Solomon it was the port for Jerusa- 
lem to which Hiram, king of Tyre, sent timber 
from the Lebanon Mountains in floats for the 
building of the temple. (2 Chron. 2:16.) Also 
when the second temple was built after the return 
from Babylonish captivity, timber was brought 
from the Lebanon Mountains to Joppa, and thence 
carried to Jerusalem. 

Christianity was early introduced into this 
place. It was here that Peter was on the housetop 
when he had the vision which showed him that the 
wall of partition between Jew and Gentile was 
broken down. (Acts 10.) Here, too, is where 
Dorcas lived and performed her good works, and 
where she was restored to life by Peter when she 
died. (Acts 9.) God did not put this little inci- 
dent into His Book merely to fill it up, but to leave 
an example of good works for future generations, 
and to show to the readers that the apostle was 
heaven-sent because of the miracle he performed. 
"What a contrast between Dorcas' simple way of 
helping the poor, and the complex way of our 
modern women ! These are the days of organiza- 
tion and all of our work must be done through in- 
stitutions of our own devising. To carry the gospel 
to the people, we must have several different kinds, 
of missionary organizations. To make people tem- 
perate, we must have temperance societies attached 
to the church. To help poor preachers, we must 
have ministerial relief funds. To develop the 



JOPPA. 



107 



young people, we must have Endeavor societies. 
To aid poor people, we must have aid and Dorcas 
societies. Little religious work is done any more 
except through institutions attached to the 
church. The simple truth is that the church is 
organized to death. The Church as established by 
Christ and the apostles did all the good work that 
it is necessary for man to do, and they had no or- 
ganization except the local church. We must not 
delegate to a few the work which belongs to all 
Christians. Every Christian should be a mission- 
ary society, an aid society, a Dorcas society : an 
Endeavor society, a temperance society, and a 
fund, so far as he is able, to relieve poor ministers 
and all others who are needy. It is not more or- 
ganizations that we want, but more work as indi- 
vidual Christians like Paul and Dorcas. This is 
God's way, and it is the best. 

What a sad and yet joyful picture it was to see 
the poor widows gathered at the bier of Dorcas 
showing the garments which she had made for them 
while she was living; — sad, because such a good 
woman had left them ; joyful, because she had been 
good and had lived well-pleasing to her Lord ! 
If you were to die, dear reader, could the poor and 
helpless of earth gather around your silent form 
and tell of many deeds of love which you per- 
formed? Could they say, That was a good man, 
and the world is made better and happier by his 
life? Or could they, on the other hand, look 
down upon your silent features without a tear and 



108 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



say within their hearts as they pass by, What a 
cold, selfish life he lived; I hope my life may not 
be like his? 

Is it not true, after all has been said, that the 
devoted and self-sacrificing Christian life, is the 
happiest life that can be lived? When you spend 
a day in earthly pleasure, you lie down at night 
feeling unsatisfied, and looking forward to another 
day of worldly enjoyment. You are not content 
and never can be with such transient joys. The 
earthly pleasures of this life are like the bubbles 
which the boy blows with his clay pipe and basin 
of suds. How beautiful they are in the sun, with 
all the colors of the rainbow ! He runs after them 
in his play, but when he touches them — they are 
gone. How beautiful and enticing are the ungodly 
pleasures of this world! But when you grasp 
them — they are passed away forever. When, how- 
ever, you have spent a day in the service of God, 
trying to advance His kingdom among men, you 
lie down at night satisfied in your mind and know- 
ing that you shall be rewarded for all the good 
you have done. You are happy in the sacrifices 
you have made in order to try to make the world 
better. Your joy in this world is great and con- 
tinuous, and you know that it will last through 
eternity, inasmuch as the Sweet Singer of Israel 
has said, "In thy presence there is fulness of joy; 
at thy right hand there are pleasures for ever- 
more." 



JOPPA. 



109 



You may spend your days seeking the praise of 
men, but soon the shout of the multitude will pass 
away. You may toil and struggle, dear friend, to 
make a name for yourself among the children of 
men, but it will do you no good when you lie cold 
in death. You may spend your time seeking popu- 
larity in your little community : but it will avail 
you nothing when the scenes of earth are fading 
from you. "The paths of glory lead but to the 
grave." Why should we not seek the praise of 
God rather than the praise of men? The laurel 
wreath which men may give will soon wither, but 
the crown which God will give is incorruptible and 
will never fade away. 

And what will you do with your riches when you 
come to die? They will not recommend you to 
God but will rather be a witness against you. You 
have spent your days hoarding up, perhaps for 
ungodly children to squander, and you have closed 
your heart to the cry of the poor and needy. You 
have heard the Macedonian call for the gospel, but 
you have stopped your ears. In your own church 
you have measured your giving by some poor 
brother who has little of this world's goods. You 
brought nothing into this world and it is certain 
that you can carry nothing out. How sad to know 
that many people, yea many professed Christians, 
leave ten thousand dollars behind them, but not 
one dollar ahead. Covetousness is as much idol- 
atry now as it was in Paul's day, and no idolater 
hath any inheritance in the kingdom of God and 



110 MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 

Christ. God save us from this prevailing sin of 
this age and country ! 

We thank thee, Lord, for the life of Dorcas, 
and the lesson of simplicity and self-sacrifice 
which it brings to us! 



XYII 



BETHLEHEM AND HEBRON 

[nHE DISTANCE from Joppa to Jerusalem 



by the carriage road is forty-one miles. At 



last we have reached the most famous city 
in the world, — famous, not because of its size or 
wealth, but because from it went forth a system of 
laws which is the foundation of all the codes of 
the civilized countries of the world. But before 
we come to Jerusalem in our description, let us 
take two side trips to the south and east of the 
city. Let us go first to Bethlehem and Hebron 
by carriage, and enjoy together the day among 
the historic scenes. Four miles from Jerusalem 
and one mile from Bethlehem, we pass a structure 
called the Tomb of Rachel. Of course the intelli- 
gent traveler does not believe that that very build- 
ing is the one in which Rachel was placed when 
she died, but he has many reasons to believe that 
this is the spot, or at least very near it, where 
the favorite wife of Jacob was buried. Through- 
out the Christian era this has been regarded as 
the place where Rachel was buried, and also in 
Old Testament times. "And Rachel died, and 
was buried in the way to Ephrath (the same is 




112 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



Bethlehem). And Jacob set up a pillar upon her 
grave. The same is the pillar of Rachel's grave 
unto this [Moses'] day." (Gen. 35:19.) In the 
days of Samuel, Rachel's sepulcher was pointed 
out. (1 Sam. 10:2.) Thus the Bible and tradi- 
tion cause us to believe that the Tomb of Rachel 
was near Bethlehem, and this fact helps us to ap- 
preciate a prophecy fulfilled at the birth of 
Christ. When Herod heard that Jesus a king was 
to be born in Bethlehem, he sent and slew all the 
children there and in its borders. By a beautiful 
figure in which the woman whose tomb was in their 
midst and whose memory they all loved, is used 
for the women of that community, Jeremiah 
describes their sorrow thus, "A voice was heard in 
Ramah, weeping and mourning, Rachel weeping 
for her children; and she would not be comforted, 
because they are not." (Matt. 2:18.) 

One mile further brings us to Bethlehem, so 
famed in sacred lore. Here Ruth, the Moabitess, 
came to live with her mother-in-law, and here 
David, her noted descendant, was raised. Here, 
too, was the home of three of David's mighty men, 
— Joab. Asahel and Abishai. (2 Sam. 2:32.) It 
was not, however, till after the birth of Christ here 
that Bethlehem became a city of much size, and 
it now has about 8,000 inhabitants. Perhaps you 
are wondering whether can be ascertained the 
exact place where Jesus was born. Of course the 
Greek and Roman Catholics have all prominent 
biblical places localized; and in Bethlehem they 



114 MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 

show you the very spot where Jesus was born! 
Yet, even before either of these churches was de- 
veloped out of the general apostasy, Justin 
Martyr, who lived in the second century, said that 
Christ was born in a cavern in Bethlehem. The 
Church of St. Mary is presumably built over the 
cavern, part of which church was probably built 
in the fourth century. 

From Bethlehem we continue south, past the so- 
called Pools of Solomon. These pools are three in 
number and mostly hewn in the rock. The largest 
is 194 yards long, on an average of 56 yards wide, 
and at places is 84 feet deep. In ancient times 
drinking water was brought into Jerusalem from 
these pools. The only evidence that these pools 
were made by Solomon is found in Eccl. 2 :6, 
where the wise man says, "I made me pools of 
water to water therefrom the forest where trees 
were reared." 

Before we reach Hebron, we digress from the 
main road to see the traditional Oak of Mamre. 
Of course no one with any sense would believe 
that this oak was living in Abraham's day, and 
yet it is a tree whose trunk is hundreds of years 
old. It is 32 feet in circumference at the bottom, 
and was regarded as the Oak of Abraham as far 
back as the sixteenth century; hence it must be 
several hundred years older than that, Leaving 
the oak, we soon reach Hebron, perhaps the oldest 
city of Palestine, and a place now of nearly 20,000 
inhabitants. 



116 MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 

In Num. 13 :22 ; it is said that Hebron was 
founded seven years before Zoan, i. e. Tanis, the 
chief city of lower Egypt. In Gen. 13 :18, it is 
said that " Abraham moved his tent, and came 
and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, which are in 
Hebron, and built there an altar unto Jehovah. " 
It was here that the three angels of God came to 
him and told him of the coming destruction of 
Sodom and Gomorrha. When Sarah died, (Gen. 
23), Abraham purchased from Ephron the Hittite, 
the cave of Machpelah, as a family burial ground, 
and the three patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and 
Jacob, were buried here. When Joshua led the 
children of Israel against the Canaanites, he de- 
stroyed Hebron, and killed the inhabitants. 
(Josh. 10:37.) Afterwards, Hebron was assigned 
to Caleb, who made it his home. David spent a 
long time in the region of Hebron, and after 
Saul's death he reigned seven and a half years 
from this place. It was at the gates of Hebron 
that Abner was slain by Joab, and David caused 
the murderers of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, to be 
hanged by the pool of Hebron. Hebron after- 
wards became the headquarters of the rebellious 
Absalom, but after that period it is rarely men- 
tioned. The Mohammedans have a mosque over 
the cave where they say Abraham is buried, and 
they will not permit Christians to enter the build- 
ing. A few of royal blood have seen the cave, but 
it was only through a special permit from the Sul- 
tan. It is with all these historic events passing 



BETHLEHEM AND HEBRON. 



117 



through his mind that the Bible student pays a 
visit to this ancient city of Hebron. 



XVIII 



JERICHO, THE JORDAN RIVER, 
AND THE DEAD SEA 



HE TRIP to the Jordan River occupies two 



days, one for going and the other for com- 



ing. Our route leads us through Bethany 
on the southeast border of the Mount of Olives, a 
town which is now composed of about forty hovels. 
It was here that Lazarus and Mary and Martha 
lived, and here Lazarus died and was raised to life 
by Jesus. The so-called Tomb of Lazarus is shown 
to the traveler, and also the traditional site of the 
house of Mary and Martha ; but as these sites have 
changed in the course of the centuries, we conclude 
that there is nothing certain about these places 
visited by Christ. 

When travelers go to Jericho, they are supposed 
to take one or two soldiers with them at their own 
expense as a protection. Now as in the days of the 
Good Samaritan, there are thieves and robbers 
along the road. Especially is there danger when 
there is war among the nomadic tribes. As every- 
thing seems to be quiet among the tribes now, and 
as no one is astir in the guard house as we pass it 
very early in the morning, we leave the soldiers 




120 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



behind and trust to the revolver which our guide 
has. 

Down, down, down, we go, all the way to the 
Jordan Valley, and we remember that the Bible 
speaks about going down from Jerusalem to 
Jericho. And when we remember, too, that it 
speaks about going up to Jerusalem and down to 
Caesarea, etc., we are convinced that the writers 
of the New Testament were well acquainted with 
the geography of Palestine and were actual resi- 
dents there, some of the higher destructive critics 
to the contrary notwithstanding. About half way 
between Jerusalem and Jericho is an inn which is 
localized as the scene of the Good Samaritan. 
(Luke 10:30-37.) On the left of the carriage 
road as we come nearer the Jordan Valley, is a deep 
ravine down which a brook flows to the river, 
supposed to be the brook Cherith, where Elijah 
went when the great drouth was on and where 
he was fed by the ravens. (1 Kings 17:3, 5.) 

Soon we reach the village of Jericho in the 
valley of the Jordan with its three hundred souls 
living in mud huts. The place, however, was not 
always as insignificant as it is now. When Joshua 
crossed the Jordan, he found a walled city here, 
with a vegetation around it which was very rich. 
It is sometimes called the City of Palms, and down 
to the seventh century of our era date palms were 
common, though now they have almost entirely 
disappeared. Around the city lay a large and 
flourishing oasis of corn and hemp fields. In spite 



JERICHO. 



121 



of many conquests, Jericho continued to flourish. 
Herod embellished Jericho with palaces, and made 
it his winter residence. It was here that Zaccheus 
climbed into a sycamore tree to see Jesus as he 
was passing by on his last journey to Jerusalem. 
(Luke 19.) Near Jericho is a fountain called 
Elisha's Spring, which has been regarded from a 
remote time as the water which Elisha healed with 
salt. (2 Kings 2:19-22.) 

The Jordan River rises north of the Sea of 
Galilee, flows into it at the north and out of it at 
the south, and continues its downward course to 
the Dead Sea. The distance on an air line be- 
tween the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea is only 
65 miles, but the river is so meandering in its 
course between those two seas that it covers three 
times that distance. The water is muddy and the 
current is swift, owing to the 3,000° feet of fall 
which it has in its course. Near its mouth the 
river is 100 feet wide. The valley near Jericho is 
several miles wide, and has many low bushes and 
thickets, from which in ancient times the lions 
were driven out at the "swelling of the Jordan." 
(Jer. 49:19.) Some religious tourists who have 
more prejudice than honesty, go home after a few 
minutes' visit to the Jordan River, and because 
they see the river is swift tell the people that it 
was impossible for John to have immersed the 
people in such waters. If every immersionist 
would draw such hasty conclusions when he first 
views the banks of a stream in America, of course 



JERICHO. 



123 



there would be little immersing done, for some- 
times a man has to go for miles to find a suitable 
place to baptize. If T. DeWitt Talmage could im- 
merse a man in the Jordan River, why could not 
John the Baptist have immersed Christ here? A 
bit of history from Baedeker's guide book con- 
cerning the immersions which have been done and 
are still being done here, throw such prejudiced 
teachers into disrepute : 

"Baptism in the Jordan was as early as the 
time of Constantine (fourth century) deemed a 
special privilege. In the sixth century. Antoni- 
nus found a great concourse of pilgrims here. He 
records that both banks were paved with marble ; 
that a wooden cross rose in the middle of the 
stream ; and that, after the water had been blessed 
by the priest, the pilgrims entered it, each wear- 
ing a linen garment, which was carefully pre- 
served in order afterwards to be used as a wind- 
ing-sheet. * * * Disorderly scenes frequently 
took place here. From an early period the pil- 
grims were conducted, or rather hurried into the 
water by Becluin guides (sometimes accompanied 
by the pasha), and quarrels among the Christians 
were not uncommon. Down to the present time, 
the Greeks attach great importance to the bath 
in the Jordan as the termination of a pilgrimage. 
The great caravan starts for the Jordan im- 
mediately after the ceremonies of Easter, and the 
encampment lighted with pine torches on the bank 
of the river presents a quaint and interesting 



124 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



spectacle. The priests wade into the water breast 
deep, and dip in the stream the men, women and 
children as they approach in their white 
garments. ' ' 

While visiting the Jordan, we mnst of course 
run down to see the Dead Sea. This body of 
water is called the Salt Sea and Eastern Sea in 
the Bible, and by the Greeks and Romans, the 
Sea of Asphalt and the Dead Sea. This sea is 47 
miles long, and at its greatest breadth is 9' 1-2 
miles wide. On the east and west sides there are 
precipitous mountains, which in many places run 
up to the water's edge. The Dead Sea is 1,292 
feet below the Mediterranean Sea and 3,786 feet 
below Jerusalem, that city being 2,494 feet above 
the Mediterranean. From these figures, one can 
easily see what a depression in the earth the Jor- 
dan Valley and the Dead Sea make. Standing on 
the Russian church tower on the Mount of Olives, 
one can see at a glance how far below the valley 
lies. It is estimated that 6 1-2 million tons of 
water fall into the sea daily, the whole of which 
must be carried off by evaporation as the sea has 
no outlet. The evaporation of the water leaves 
the solid substance still there, which gives it the 
disagreeable taste which it has. The water is 
about one-fourth solid substance, seven per cent, 
of which is common salt, and its brackish, oily, 
salty taste, is unpleasant. No living being of any 
kind is found in this water. We have heard that 
it is impossible to sink in these waves, and so we 



126 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



take a bath to see ; and we find that the solid sub- 
stance in the water is so great that one's body will 
not sink. It is hard, however, to swim in the 
water because one's feet tend to come above the 
surface. We lie here on our backs in the water 
with both hands and feet above. After plunging 
around for awhile, we find that we have difficulty 
in breathing; and we reason that the same force 
that is holding us up is pressing against our lungs 
and making it difficult to get our breath. "When 
we come out. I imagine we feel like an eel. One 
plunge in the Dead Sea is enough to satisfy one's 
curiosity. 

Many people believe that the Dead Sea occupies 
the site of Sodom and Gomorrha ; and we know 
at least that it harmonizes with the geographical 
details of those cities of the plain which God de- 
stroyed. In 1848, W. F. Lynch, of the U. S. Navy, 
led a government expedition to the Jordan and 
Dead Sea to explore those bodies of water, and in 
his narrative on pp. 252-3, he expresses his inter- 
esting conclusion thus : 

"From the summit of these cliffs, in a line a 
little north of west, about sixteen miles distant, 
is Hebron, a short distance from which Dr. Eob- 
inson found the dividing ridge between the Medi- 
terranean and this sea. From Beni Na'im. the 
reputed tomb of Lot, upon that ridge, it is sup- 
posed that Abraham looked 'toward all the land 
of the plain,' and beheld the smoke, 'as the 
smoke of a furnace,' The inference from the 



JERICHO. 



127 



Bible that this entire chasm was a plain sunk and 
'overwhelmed' by the wrath of God, seems to be 
sustained by the extraordinary character of our 
surroundings. The bottom of this sea consists of 
two submerged plains, the former averaging 
thirteen, the latter about thirteen hundred feet be- 
low the surface. Through the northern, and largest 
and deepest one, in a line corresponding with the 
bed of the Jordan, is a ravine, which again seems 
to correspond with the Wady el Jeib, or ravine 
within a ravine, at the south end of the sea. 

"Between the Jabok and this sea, we unexpect- 
edly found a breakdown in the bed of the Jordan. 
If there be a similar breakdown in the water- 
courses to the south of the sea, accompanied with 
like volcanic characters, there can scarce be a doubt 
that the whole Ghor (valley) has sunk from some 
extraordinary convulsion; preceded most probably, 
by an eruption of fire, and a general conflagra- 
tion of the bitumen which abounded in the plain. 
I shall ever regret that we were not authorized to 
explore the southern Ghor to the Red Sea. 

"But it is for the learned to comment on the 
facts which we have laboriously collected. Upon 
ourselves, the result is a decided one. We entered 
upon this sea with conflicting opinions. One of 
the party was skeptical, and another, I think, a 
professed unbeliever of the Mosaic account. Af- 
ter twenty-two days' close investigation, if I am 
not mistaken^ we are unanimous in the conviction 
of the truth of the scriptural account of the de- 



128 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



struction of the cities of the plain. I record with 
diffidence the conclusions we have reached, simply 
as a protest against the shallow deductions of 
would-be unbelievers. ' ' 



XIX 



ENVIRONS OF JERUSALEM 

Valley of Jehoshaphat, Valley of Hinnom, 
Tombs of the Kings, Tombs of the Judges, 
En-Rogel. Pools in and Around 
Jerusalem. 

BEFORE entering this most noted city of 
Jerusalem, let us spend a little time in the 
environs, for they are as historic as the 
city itself. On the east, is the Valley of Jehosh- 
aphat, called also the Valley of the Kedron, which 
is formed by the hills on which Jerusalem sits and 
by the Mount of Olives, and down which flows 
the brook Kedron. The upper part of the valley 
is broad and planted with olive and almond trees, 
and the lower part is narrower, getting deeper 
rapidly as it descends toward the south. There 
is a tradition that this valley will be the scene of 
the last judgment, founded on a misunderstanding 
of the passage in Joel 3 :2. The Christians and 
Mahometans have probably borrowed the idea 
from the Jews, and so the Jews and Mahometans 
bury their dead in the valley. — the former on the 
east side and the latter on the west. At the 



130 



MEDITxVTIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



resurrection, the sides are expected to move farther 
apart so as to accommodate the vast throng which 
will appear there. The Mahometans say that at 
the judgment a thin wire rope will be stretched 
across the valley from the wall of Jerusalem to the 
Mount of Olives, and that Christ will sit on the 
wall and Mahomet on the mount as judges. All 
men must pass over the valley on the rope. The 
angels will keep the righteous from falling, but 
the wicked will fall into hell. The idea of a 
bridge of this kind was borrowed from the Persian 
religion. 

The Valley of Hinnom begins on the west side 
of the city and runs south and east getting deeper 
and deeper, and joins the Valley of Jehoshaphat 
southeast of the city. The valley was called in 
Greek Ge Ben Hinnom (valley of the son of Hin- 
nom). At one time children were sacrificed here. 
(Jer. 7:3.) Josiah defiled the place (2 Kings 
23:10), so that the people would no longer burn 
their children here; and from that time on, the 
spot seems to have become the place where the 
filth of the city was thrown, and thus became a 
point of detestation to the Jews. From this cir- 
cumstance, the later Jews applied the name 
Gehenna, which is a contraction of Ge Hinnom, to 
the final abode of the wicked. A little farther 
down the valley and past the point where the 
Valley of Jehoshaphat and the Valley of Hinnom 
meet, is a spring called Job's Well, from a late 
Mohammedan legend. This well is probably the 



ENVIRONS OF JERUSALEM. 



131 



En-Kogel ("fuller's spring"), mentioned in 
Joshua 15 :7, as the border between the tribes of 
Juclah and Benjamin. It was here that Adonijah 
prepared a feast for his friends on the occasion 
of his attempted usurpation of the throne of 
David. (1 Kings 1:8.) One can realize how deep 
this valley is when he learns that the place of this 
well is 345 feet below the temple plateau in the city. 

North of Jerusalem there is little of historic 
note to be seen except some tombs which have 
the high-sounding titles of ' ' Tombs of the Judges ' ' 
and "Tombs of the Kings." There is no evidence 
to show that the former of these were the burial 
places of the ancient judges of Israel, nor that the 
latter are the sepulchers of the Jewish kings. They 
are, however, the burial places of wealthy people, 
and they give one a good idea of the ancient rock- 
hewn sepulchers. The Tombs of the Kings have 
one entrance which leads into a chamber from 
which one can go into several other chambers, in 
all of which there are shelves in the Avails where 
bodies were placed. The entrance to these tombs 
is like the entrance to Christ's tomb, for it has a 
stone to roll to the mouth of the sepulcher. These 
stones are round slabs, like the old-fashioned solid 
wooden wheels, and are rolled in large stone 
grooves to the mouth of the cavern or away 
from it. 

But perhaps you would like to know something 
of the water supply of Jerusalem. This is an im- 
portant subject because it deals with a much-dis- 



132 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



cussed ordinance in the Christian world. Some 
people say that the three thousand on the day of 
Pentecost could not have been immersed because 
there was not enough water in Jerusalem to im- 
merse them, and they did not have time to go to 
the Pools of Solomon, twenty miles away. My 
attention has recently been called to a book writ- 
ten by a man who had been to Palestine and who 
takes that position. I shall place a few facts be- 
fore the reader concerning the pools at Jerusalem 
and let him judge for himself. The Pool of Siloam 
is south of the city and is the one in which Christ 
told the blind man to wash. (John 9:7.) This 
pool is 52 feet long and 18 feet wide. Near this 
cistern is another called the Lower Pool of Siloam. 
Just north of the temple plateau and within the 
city is a large pool which was formerly regarded as 
the Pool of Bethesda. It is 363 feet long, 126 feet 
wide, and lies 68 feet below the level of the temple 
hill. . It now has rubbish in its bottom to a depth 
of 20 feet. In the Valley of Hinnom and south- 
west of the city is the Sultan's Pool, which is 555 
feet long, 219 feet wide, and is 35 feet deep on the 
north side and 41 feet deep on the south side. The 
Mamilla Pool lies west of the city in a Mohamme- 
dan grave-yard, and is frequently identified with 
the " upper pool" of the Old Testament. It is 
291 feet long, 192 feet wide, and 19 feet deep. 
The Patriarch's Pool ; called also the Pool of Heze- 
kiah, is within the city close to the Jaffa gate. It is 
240 feet long, and 144 feet wide. This pool had a 



134 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



little water in it when I saw it in September. 
These are all ancient pools and had water in them 
in Bible times, though nearly all of them now have 
fallen into decay. All these pools I myself saw. 
but I take the measurements from the guide book. 
Now in any one of these six pools three thousand 
people could have been immersed. Besides these 
pools, there is a large cistern 246 yards in cir- 
cumference which is on the temple plateau and 
within a stone's throw of where the ancient temple 
stood, and which has a rock-hewn stair-case leading 
to it. This place, too. could have been used for 
immersing. Our only conclusion concerning a man 
who has visited Jerusalem and who says that there 
was not enough water in that city to immerse three 
thousand people, is that if he had followed a 
Baedeker's guide book and searched out some of 
the ancient things instead of following a superficial 
guide about, listening to monkish tales and view- 
ing the modern sites, he would not have made such 
big blunders concerning the water supply of 
ancient Jerusalem, and he would not have made 
such hasty and false conclusions in favor of an 
unscriptural practice. 



XX 



GENERAL VIEW OF MODERN 
JERUSALEM 



ND NOW we are ready to visit the most in- 



teresting city in the world,— the city 



where have happened the greatest events 
which have been enacted among men. Our minds 
go back to some of the events which have tran- 
spired here. Jerusalem has been called "the city 
of David," and well it has been, for it was 
David who made it the capital city of the Jews. 
The town was the stronghold of the Jebusites 
when David took it in his reign. Mt. Zion was 
the fortress, and was such an important point 
in the town that the city itself was sometimes 
called after it. "the daughter of Zion." As Jeru- 
salem is a type of the city which John saw come 
down from heaven, Christians often speak of the 
home of the soul as "Zion." After the death of 
David, Solomon embellished the city, and built 
here the temple. At the division of the people into 
two kingdoms, Jerusalem became the capital of the 
kingdom of Judah. It is with sadness that Ave think 
of this city and the continued disobedience of its 
inhabitants. Finally, in about the year 600 B. C, 




136 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



God sent Nebuchadnezzar against the place, who 
destroyed the city, razed the temple to the ground, 
and carried away into Babylonish captivity the 
remnant of the inhabitants. After seventy years 
as servants in a foreign land, we see a few thousand 
Jews struggling back in the providence of God to 
become again a nation among the peoples of the 
earth. After many hardships they build again the 
walls of their beloved city, and dedicate the second 
temple to the Lord. Through many changes the 
city passes until in the last days of the Jewish 
dispensation the city is honored by being the place 
where the Son of God taught many of his lessons. 
In harmony with the prophecies we know that the 
law has gone forth from Zion and the word of the 
Lord from Jerusalem. 

We see the city again with a besieging army 
around it. This time, the Romans are the instru- 
ment of God to punish the Jews for their disobedi- 
ence. The taking and sacking of the city is one 
of the most tragic events of its kind in the annals 
of history. Hundreds of thousands of people have 
gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate their sacred 
feasts, an<d while there their own anarchy brings 
the Romans against them. Finally, after hundreds 
of thousands of people have perished the city is 
destroyed, according to the prophecy of Christ, and 
the remnant of the Jews is scattered. Without a 
country, they have been wanderers ever since. In 
the year 130 A. D., the Emperor Hadrian erected 
a town on the site of Jerusalem, and named it 



MODERN JERUSALEM. 



137 



Aelia Capitolina, but the Jews under Bar Cochba 
raised a rebellion, and from that time on for many 
years they were prohibited front setting their feet 
within its walls. In the fourth century, the Em- 
peror Constantine permitted the Jews to return to 
Jerusalem, but in 339 they again took up arms 
against the Romans. A little later, the Emperor 
Julian the Apostate gave the Jews the liberty 
again of building their temple, thinking thereby to 
overthrow the religion of Jesus, but fire came from 
the ruins of the temple and frightened the work- 
men away, an occurrence which Christians in those 
days said was a divine manifestation against the 
efforts of Julian. In the seventh century, the city 
fell into the hands of the Mohammedans who have 
held it most of the time since. It was their op- 
pression of the pilgrims which led to the Crusades 
in the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth centuries, 
when many great mobs of people under the name 
of armies marched from Europe into Asia, most of 
them to die there by sword, famine and disease. 
Since that time, the Turks, who are Mohammedans, 
have held the city, and they have possession of it 
now. Jerusalem is situated directly west of the 
Mediterranean Sea 32 miles, but is 41 miles from 
Joppa by the carriage road, which is north of west. 
It is 14 miles from the Dead Sea, and is three- 
fourths of a mile above that body of water, and 
half a mile above the Mediterranean Sea. The wall 
around the city was built in the Middle Ages, and 
is 38 1-2 feet high with 34 towers and 8 gates, one 



138 



MEDITATIONS IX BIBLE LANDS. 



of which is closed, and is 2 1-2 miles in circum- 
ference. The town possesses few open spaces, and 
the streets are ill-paved and crooked, many of them 
being blind alleys and causing much trouble to 
one who is trying to make his way over the city 
alone. 

"As Jerusalem." says Baedeker, "posseses no 
springs except the Spring of Mary, the inhabitants 
obtain their supply of water from cisterns, the 
roofs of the houses and every available space being 
made to contribute the rain that falls upon them. 
Owing to the scarcity of wood, the houses are en- 
tirely built of stone. The court with its cistern 
forms the central point of each group of rooms. A 
genuine Jerusalem dwelling house consists of a 
number of separate apartments, each with an en- 
trance and a dome-shaped roof of its own. These 
vaulted chambers are pleasantly cool in summer. 
The rooms are of different heights and are irreg- 
ularly grouped. Between them run stair-cases and 
passages in the open air. a very uncomfortable ar- 
rangement in rainy weather, in consequence of 
which it has become the custom with the women ta 
provide themselves with pattens. Some houses have 
flat roofs, but under these is always concealed a 
cupola. The cupolas do not spring from the tops of 
the walls, but a little within them, so that it is pos- 
sible to walk around the outsides of the cupolas. 
The roofs are frequently provided with para- 
pets of earthen pipes, constructed in a triangular 
form. Pots and troughs for flowers are built 



MODERN JERUSALEM. 



139 



into the roofs and courts by the architects. In the 
walls of the rooms are niches serving as cupboards. 
In some of the houses there are no glass windows; 
nor are chimneys by any means universal, the char- 
coal smoke being in their absence allowed to escape 
by the doors and windows. The rooms are usually 
warmed with charcoal braziers. Only houses built 
on the European plan and the hotels are provided 
with stoves. The floors are composed of very hard 
cement. 

"The climate, on the whole, is healthy. The 
fresh sea breeze tempers the heat even during the 
hot months; at night there is frequently a consid- 
erable fall of temperature. The cistern water, too, 
is good and not in the least unhealthy when the 
cisterns are kept clean. The water in the cisterns 
certainly gets low toward autumn, and the poorer 
classes then have recourse to water from the pools. 
This, combined with the miasma from the heaps of 
rubbish, frequently causes fever, dysentery, etc. 

"According to a recent estimate (about 1897), 
the population numbers about 60,000, of whom 
7.000 are Muslims, 41,000 Jews and 12,800 Chris- 
tians. The Christians include 4,000 Latins, 200 
United Greeks, 50 United Armenians, 6.000 Ortho- 
dox Greeks, 800 Armenians, 100 Copts, 100 Ethio- 
pians, 100 Syrians, 1,400 Protestants. 

"The number of Jews has greatly risen of late 
years. In spite of the fact that they are forbidden 
to immigrate or to possess landed property, the 
number steadily increases, both of those who desire 



140 



MEDITATIONS IX BIBLE LANDS. 



to be buried in the Holy City and of those who in- 
tend to subsist on the charity of their European 
brethren, from whom they receive their regular 
allowance, and for whom they pray at the holy 
places. Sir M. Monte Fiore, Baron Rothschild, and 
others, together with the Alianee Israelite, have 
done much to ameliorate the condition of their poor 
brethren at Jerusalem by their munificent benefac- 
tions. The Jews have over seventy synagogues in 
Jerusalem. ' ' 



XXI 



THE SITE OF THE TEMPLE 

WHEN we say that this temple plateau on 
which we are now standing is the most 
interesting religious spot in the world, 
we are stating only that which is true. It is a place 
which has been held sacred by Jews, Mohamme- 
dans and superstitious Christians for thousands of 
years. 

"When Abraham was told to offer his son as a sac- 
rifice on a mountain in the la'nd of Moriah. it is 
probable, from the biblical narrative and from tra- 
dition, that this is the hill. (Gen. 22 :2.) Upon this 
very mountain was situated the threshing-floor 
which David bought of Oman the Jebusite as a 
place to offer sacrifice to stay the plague which God 
had brought for David's sin in numbering Israel. 
(2 Sam. 24.) It was upon this very mountain, too, 
that Solomon built the magnificent temple, which, 
with its successor, has made the place so glorious. 
(2 Chron. 3 :1.) And as Jesus, the greatest religious 
teacher the world has ever seen, presented many of 
his lessons here, and as Mohammed considered that 
the place was next to Mecca in sacredness, we see 



142 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



that it is a central point for three of the most prom- 
inent religions in the world. 

The temple which Solomon built here was de- 
stroyed about 600 B. C, when the people were car- 
ried away into Babylonish captivity; and another, 
though inferior temple, was built after the return. 
(2 Kings 23; Ezra, Nehemiah.) This second temple 
was remodeled by Herod a few years before Christ, 
and was made practically a new structure. When 
the city was taken and destroyed by the Romans in 
70 A. D., the temple was completely demolished as 
Christ foretold, and not one stone was left upon an- 
other. On this site, the Emperor Hadrian erected 
a large temple to Jupiter, and put in it a statue 
of that god. Since the seventh century, the Mo- 
hammedans have had possession of the place most 
of the time, and the beautiful Dome of the Rock, 
sometimes called the Mosque of Omar, is situated 
on the spot, being built in the early part of the 
Mohammedan rule here. 

This temple area was not always as level as it now 
is. The top of the hill has been leveled off and the 
corners have been built up to accommodate the 
buildings which have been erected here. The plateau 
is 636 yards on the west, 518 on the east, 351 on the 
north, and 309 on the south; so we see that there 
was room on this level place for many buildings 
besides the temple. Besides' the Dome of the Rock, 
there are several other sacred Mohammedan build- 
ings here, still leaving, however, much open space 
upon the plateau. At the southeast corner of this 



THE SITE OF THE TEMPLE. 



143 



area where the surface has been built up to make 
the plateau larger are sub-structures known as Sol- 
omon's Stables. There is no reliable evidence that 
Solomon used these vaults as stables, and yet the 
crusaders did in the Middle Ages. Many Jews 
sought refuge in these places in their struggles 
against the Romans. The vault extends 91 yards 
from east to west, and 60 yards from north to 
south. 

But perhaps you wonder why this building, 
called the Dome of the Rock, is so named. It is so 
called because of the great rock over which the 
beautiful structure is reared, a rock sacred in both 
Jewish and Moslem tradition. A few paragraphs 
from the guide-book give the reader an interesting 
sample of the mixture of foolish traditions with 
facts, so prevalent in this land of religious story. 

"We now proceed to the Holy Rock itself. It is 
58 feet long and 44 feet wide, and rises about 6 1-2 
feet above the surrounding pavement. The earliest 
reference to it is found in the Talmud, or Jewish 
tradition. As in other sanctuaries of antiquity, such 
as Delphi, the stone is said to cover the mouth of 
an abyss with a subterranean torrent, the waters 
of which were heard roaring far beneath. Accord- 
ing to Jewish tradition, Abraham and Melchisedec 
sacrificed here, Abraham was on the point of slay- 
ing Isaac here, and the rock is said to have been 
anointed by Jacob. As it was regarded as the cen- 
tral point of the world, the Ark of the Covenant is 
said once to have stood here, to have been afterward 



THE SITE OF THE TEMPLE. 



145 



concealed here by Jeremiah (but according to 2 
Mace. 2:5 in a cave in Mt. Nebo), and still to lie 
buried beneath the sacred rock. On this rock also 
was written the 'shem,' the great and unspeakable 
name of God. Jesus, says tradition, succeeded in 
reading it, and he was thus enabled to work his 
miracles. The rock before us can not be identified 
with the stone of foundation, of Jewish tradition, if 
only on account of its size ; it is much too large ever 
to have stood in the 'holy of holies.' The proba- 
bility is that the great sacrificial altar stood here, 
and traces of a channel for carrying off the blood 
have been discovered on the rock. Excavations, if 
permitted, would probably show that the natural 
hollow under the stone goes deeper into the earth 
and is really a cistern. 

''The Muslims adopted and improved upon this 
tradition about the rock, as they did with so many 
other already existing Jewish traditions. Accord- 
ing to them the stone hovers over the abyss without 
support. When we descend on the south side by the 
pulpit to the cavern beneath the rock we see a sup- 
port, and all around the rock resting on a white- 
washed wall. The hollow sound heard by knocking 
the, wall is not due to any cavity behind it, but to 
the mortar peeling off from the rock. In this cavern 
the cicerone points out the places where David and 
Solomon and Abraham and Elijah were in the habit 
of praying. Mohammed has also left the impression 
of his head on the rocky ceiling. The guide knocks 
on a round stone plate almost in the middle of the 



146 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



floor; there is evidently a hollow underneath. The 
Muslims maintain that beneath this rock is the well 
of souls, where the souls of the deceased assemble to 
pray twice weekly. Some say that the rock came 
from Paradise, and that it rests upon a palm wa- 
tered by a river of Paradise ; beneath this palm are 
Asia, wife of Pharaoh, and Mary. Others maintain 
that these are the gates of hell. At the last day the 
Kaaba of Mecca will come to the Sakhra, for here 
will sound the blast of the trumpet which will an- 
nounce the judgment. God's throne will then be 
planted upon the rock. Mohammed declared that 
one prayer here was better than a thousand else- 
where. He himself prayed here, to the right of the 
holy rock, and from hence he was translated to 
heaven on the back of El Burak, his miraculous 
steed. It was in the course of his direct transit to 
heaven that his body pierced the round hole in the 
ceiling of the rock which we still observe. On this 
occasion, moreover, the rock opened its mouth, as it 
did when it greeted Omar, and it therefore has a 
'tongue' over the entrance to the cavern. As the 
rock was desirous of accompanying Mohammed to 
heaven, the angel Gabriel was obliged to hold it 
down, and the marks of his hand are still shown 
on the west side of the rock. 

"A number of other marvels are shown. In front 
of the north entrance there is let into the ground a 
slab of jasper, into which Mohammed drove nine- 
teen nails; a nail falls out at the end of every 
epoch, and when all are gone the end of the world 



THE SITE OF THE TEMPLE. 



147 



will come. One day the devil succeeded in destroy- 
ing all but three and a half, but was fortunately 
detected and stopped by the angel Gabriel. * * * 
Hairs from Mohammed's beard are also preserved 
here. " 

And yet, separating fact from fiction, we know 
that this plateau is the place of Abraham 's offering 
of Isaac, of David's sacrifice at Oman's threshing- 
floor, of Solomon's temple, and much of Christ's 
teaching, and thus is an interesting point to stu- 
dents of God's Word. 



XXII 



PLACE OF CHRIST'S DEATH AND 
BURIAL 

BUT PERHAPS you are anxious to know 
whether the place where Christ was cruci- 
fied and the place where he was buried, can 
be seen today. The death and burial and resurrec- 
tion of Christ are, indeed, the facts of the gospel 
and the central thoughts of the entire Bible; yea, 
they are the most important events which have 
happened among men. The exact spot, however, 
where these wonderful events occurred can not be 
learned with certainty. The language of the New 
Testament (Matt. 28:11; Heb. 13:12), shows that 
Golgotha was on the outside of the city, for it speaks 
of the guard as going from the sepulcher "into the 
city"; and of Christ as "suffering without the 
gate." 

One reason why Christians today can not know 
the exact spot where many of the biblical events 
happened is because the Lord did not think them of 
any importance in his religion, and thus did not 
put them in his Word ; and because, also, the early 
Christians paid no attention to such things. Under 



Christ's death and burial. 149 

the New Covenant, it is not the pilgrimage to a 
so-called sacred place which is well-pleasing to 
God, but it is the living of a new life according to 
his will. The earliest historian who speaks of the 
place of Christ's death is Eusebius who lived in the 
fourth century. He says that during the excava- 
tions in the reign of Constantine the sacred tomb of 
Christ was, contrary to all expectations, discov- 
ered. Later historians say that Helena, Constan- 
tine 's mother, was prompted by a vision to make a 
pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where by the aid of a 
miracle she found not only the holy sepulcher, but 
also the cross of Christ. The cross was cut to 
pieces, only a part of it being left at Jerusalem to 
be shown to pilgrims. History shows that in 336 
a church was built over this so-called holy 
sepulcher. Of course, these were the days when the 
great apostasy was well along in its development, 
and we may expect the history of these times to be 
colored with the fables of the age. -From that cen- 
tury to this, the buildings over these "sacred" 
spots have passed through many changes, being de- 
stroyed several times and built again. There are 
many chapels in this Church of the Holy Sepulcher 
supposed to be located on sacred places, but as they 
are founded on foolish traditions, we pass them by 
without further notice. The sepulcher which is 
shown to one now as the place where Christ was 
buried is made of marble, and is as different in form 
from the rock-hewn sepulcher mentioned in the New 
Testament, as it is in the substance of which it is 



150 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



made. Only the ignorant and superstitious regard 
this marble tomb as the sepulcher of Christ. Many 
religious bodies in Christendom, such as the Greek 
and Roman Catholic churches, Armenians and 
Copts, are represented by chapels of some kind in 
this Church of the Holy Sepulcher, but I am glad 
that no Protestant denomination takes much inter- 
est in the place except through curiosity. We leave 
these superstitious acts for those whose standard is 
tradition instead of the Word of God. 

At Easter times one of the greatest deceptions 
practised in the name of religion is perpetrated 
here by the Greek Catholic priests. As the circum- 
stances show the unscrupulous disposition of the 
priests and the credulous nature of the pilgrims, 
we give the full description of the matter that the 
Protestant may appreciate the freedom of his re- 
ligion from such superstition. 

' 1 One of the most disgraceful spectacles is the so- 
called miracle of the Holy Fire, in which the Latins 
participated down to the sixteenth century, but 
which has since been managed by the Greeks alone. 
On this occasion strangers are admitted to the gal- 
leries. The Greeks declare the miracle to date from 
the apostolic age, and it is mentioned by the monk 
Bernhard as early as the ninth century. Khalif 
Hakim was told that the priest used to besmear the 
wire by which the lamp was suspended over the 
sepulcher with resinous oil, and to set it on fire 
from the roof. The wild and noisy scene begins on 
Good Friday. The crowd passes the night in the 



Christ's death and burial. 151 

church in order to procure good places. On Easter 
eve, about 2 p. m., a procession of the superior 
clergy moves around the sepulcher, all lamps having 
been carefully extinguished because of the crowd. 
Some members of the higher order of the priest- 
hood enter the chapel of the sepulcher, while the v 
priests pray and the people are in the utmost sus- 
pense. At length, the fire which has come down 
from heaven is pushed through a window of the 
sepulcher, and there now follows an indescribable 
tumult, every one endeavoring to be the first to get 
his taper lighted. In a few seconds, the whole 
church is illuminated. This, however, never hap- 
pens without fighting, and accidents generally oc- 
cur owing to the crush. The sacred fire is carried 
home by the pilgrims. It is supposed to have the 
peculiarity of not burning human beings, and many 
of the faithful allow the flame to play upon their 
naked chests or other parts of their bodies. The 
spectators do not appear to take warning from the 
terrible catastrophe of 1834. On that occasion, there 
were upwards of 6,000 persons in the church, when 
a riot suddenly broke out. The Turkish guards, 
thinking they were attacked, used their weapons 
against the pilgrims, and in the scuffle that fol- 
lowed about 300 pilgrims were killed. ' ' 



XXIII 



THE MOUNT OF OLIVES AND THE 
GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE 

f 1 1HE MOUNT OF OLIVES lies east of the 



city of Jerusalem, between which two 



places is the valley of the Kidron. The 
highest point of the mountain is almost three hun- 
dred feet above the temple plateau. The slopes are 
cultivated, but the vegetation is not luxuriant. The 
principal trees are the olive, fig and carob. The 
roads are very stony and the high walls along some 
of them hinder the breeze as well as the view to 
the passer-by. A little village of poor stone cot- 
tages is near the top of the Mount. On the west- 
ern slope of the hill are to be seen some ancient 
sepulchers which are greatly venerated by the Jews 
who call them the Tombs of the Prophets. From a 
very early time the Mount of Olives has been re- 
garded as the mount of the ascension, but the 
passage in Luke 24:50. that "he led them out as far 
as to Bethany," which place lies one-half hour's 
ride southeast of the top of the hill, disproves the 
tradition. The superstitious people even show you a 
stone with the imprint of Christ's foot which he 
made as he ascended. 




THE MOUNT OF OLIVES AND GETHSEMANE. 153 

From the top of this mountain a magnificent 
view can be obtained, especially from the Belve- 
dere Tower of the Russian buildings. To the east 
one looks down into the Jordan Valley and the 
Dead Sea, which lie more than three-fourths of a 
mile below him. To the west he looks into the Val- 
ley of the Kidron, lying immediately below him, 
and beyond it is Jerusalem with its many dome- 
capped buildings. The most conspicuous part of 
the city is that which is the nearest, the temple 
plateau with the Dome of the Rock standing almost 
on the identical spot with the ancient temple. Tall 
minarets and the domes of churches rise above the 
other buildings, and hills on the other side of the 
city serve as a background to the beautiful scene. 
The city with its mediaeval walls and ancient archi- 
tecture presents an appearance which no doubt is 
much the same as it was in Christ's day. The view 
before the western traveler is so different from 
what he sees in his own land that he enjoys much 
the oriental ancient scene. As one stands upon this 
mountain drinking in the scenery, his mind is filled 
with the sacred events which have happened in the 
places now visible to his eyes, and he remembers 
that Christ looked down many times upon the city 
just as he is looking now. 

But as we descend the mountain and make our 
way back to the city, we must stop at the Garden 
of Gethsemane, which lies in the bottom of the 
valley. The Greek and Latin churches both have 



154 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



gardens here, and though we do not know that 
either stands on the identical spot where the 
Garden of Gethsemane was ; still we know that 
they can not be far from it. The Latin garden 
is enclosed with a wall and contains eight very 
old olive trees whose trunks are split with age. 

On Lord's day afternoon after a long stroll up 
and down the valleys around Jerusalem, I sit down 
to rest and muse a little before entering the eastern 
gate of the city. The sun is nearing the horizon 
in the west, and dark shadows are creeping over 
the Valley of the Kidron. I look across at the 
Mount of Olives and see the Garden of Gethsem- 
ane at its foot. What sad events happened here 
so many centuries ago ! Jesus our Savior is 
about to finish his work on earth for fallen man. 
He has been with his disciples for the last time 
before death and eaten the paschal supper, and 
now with them he crosses the brook Kidron into 
the silent garden. Here his humanity asserts it- 
self as he thinks of his responsibility in carrying 
the sins of the whole world. He knows that all 
his disciples will forsake him and that alone he 
must go as a sheep to the slaughter. His heart 
faints within him, and he is filled with sorrow. 
Taking Peter, James and John, he withdraws 
himself from the other disciples, and leaving the 
three, who soon fall asleep, he goes and prays 
alone. Great drops of sweat fall from his face as 
he pours out his soul to his God. "Father, if 
Thou be willing, remove this cup from me; never- 



THE MOUNT OF OLIVES AND GETHSEMANE. 155 



theless not my will, but Thine be done. ' ' What an 
example does Jesus here leave for his followers, 
of resignation into the divine Father's hand! Too 
often in the battles of life, Christians almost de- 
mand that God answer their prayers, and that, too, 
at once and in the way they have arranged in 
their own minds. We must change our spirits and 
say with Jesus, "Not my will, but Thine be done," 
or else our prayers will never be heard in heaven. 
God knows best what His children should have. 

But what makes Jesus sorrow so there in the 
garden? Is it merely the death he is to suffer? I 
can not think this, for many before and after him 
have marched boldly to a death as cruel as the one 
he is to suffer. It is the burdens which rest upon 
him that bear him down. Others might die for a 
few of their fellow mortals, but Jesus dies for all 
mankind. He suffers thus that he might be a 
faithful high priest complete in his experience, so 
that no man can say that he himself has passed 
through more than Jesus did. He is tried in all 
points like as we, and yet he is without sin. He is 
indeed, as the prophet said, "A man of sorrow 
and acquainted with grief." And this agonizing 
our Savior endures, not for His own sins, but for 
mine and for the sins of the whole world. 

As the darkness of evening hastens on, and the 
garden in the distance begins to fade from my 
sight, the familiar song floats through my mind, 



156 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



Night, with ebon pinion, brooded o'er the vale; 
All around was silent, save the night wind's wail, 
When Christ, the Man of Sorrows, in tears and sweat and 
blood, 

Prostrate in the garden, raised his voice to God. 

Smitten for offenses which were not his own, 
He, for our transgressions, had to weep alone; 
No friend with words to comfort, nor hand to help was 
there, 

When the Meek and Lowly humbly bowed in prayer. 

Abba, Father, Father, if indeed it may, 
Let this cup of anguish pass from me, I pray. 
Yet, if it must be suffered by me, thine only Son, 
Abba, Father, Father, let thy will be done. 



XXIV 



THE WAILING PLACE OF 
THE JEWS 

ONE OF the most touching events to be wit- 
nessed anywhere, is to be seen at the old 
stone wall in J erusalem, called The Wailing 
Place of the Jews. This ancient wall lies at the 
western border of the temple plateau, and is about 
50 feet high and 150 feet long. For centuries, 
Jews have been coming to this place to bewail the 
downfall of Jerusalem. On Friday evening after 
4 p. m., the descendants of Abraham gather here 
and kiss the stones while they weep and pray. The 
men often sit here by the hour reading their 
prayer books. It is mostly the humbler class of 
Jews who engage in devotions here. 

As one stands by and looks at these people in 
their lamentations over their lost estate, his mind 
goes back through the history of this wonderful 
nation and he philosophizes concerning the ills 
which they now bemoan. God said concerning this 
people that if they would obey him they should 
be the head of the nations and not the tail, and 
we know from their history that God has done 
what he said he would do. As long as these people 



WAILING PLACE OF THE JEWS. 159 

listened to Jehovah, they were prosperous and 
happy; and when they disobeyed him, war and 
misery came. We can not but believe that the 
scattered and despised condition of the Jews 
through the past two thousand years, is due to 
their refusal to hear God's Son when he sent him 
into the world. 

The Israelites had committed many sins against 
Jehovah, but their rejection and crucifixion of 
Jesus Christ was the climax of them all. Jesus 
showed by the works he did that he was what he 
claimed to be,— the Son of God. I see him as he 
walks among the people presenting to them the 
greatest lessons the world has ever heard. On the 
mountain top he sits down and teaches his disciples 
how to be blessed or happy. how bright and 
cheery this world would be if the people would 
only listen to the beatitudes of Jesus ! We see him 
now in the little boat pushing out from the shore 
and teaching the multitudes along the beach. We 
behold him as he opens the eyes of the blind, un- 
stops the ears of the deaf, makes the lame to 
walk, and even raises the dead to life. Now he 
is in the temple where the people gather, and he 
makes known the message which he brings from 
God. To those who desire to do what is right, he 
shows by his words and works that he is what he 
claims to be. But the Pharisees and Sadducees 
and Scribes will not listen to Jesus, and stir the 
multitudes against him. The prominent Jews who 
do believe in Jesus will not acknowledge him, be- 



160 MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 

cause they fear it will make them unpopular with 
the higher classes. "Among the chief rulers many 
believed on him, but because of the Pharisees they 
would not confess him, lest they should be put out 
of the synagogue ; for they loved the praise of men 
more than the praise of God." We see Jesus 
turning sadly away from them as they stop their 
ears to his words of wisdom and truth, and make 
their plots to kill him. Silently and with eyes 
turned down in meditation, I fancy I see the 
Savior — the despised and rejected One — go out of 
the city on the east, descend into the Valley of the 
Kidron, and finally ascend to the top of the Mount 
of Olives. There he looks down upon the city 
where his ancestors for a thousand years had dis- 
obeyed God most of the time, and weeps because 
of her hardness of heart in refusing to hear the 
good news which he brought from the Father above. 
Sorrowfully he looks forward to the calamities 
which are about to befall the beloved city and her 
people. "0 Jerusalem," he sighs, "that killeth 
the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto 
her! How often would I have gathered thy chil- 
dren together, even as a hen gathereth her own 
brood under her wings, and ye would not ! ' ' And 
looking down upon the temple which the people 
professed to love so well, he thought of its de- 
struction and continued his lament, "Behold, your 
house is left unto you desolate ; and I say unto you, 
Ye shall not see me until ye shall say, Blessed is 
he that cometh in the name of the Lord." 



WAILING PLACE OF THE JEWS. 161 

Jesus is soon killed by the rulers of the Jews, 
but his prophecy lives on and is fulfilled. The 
temple is, indeed, soon made desolate, not one 
stone being left upon another. I see the Roman 
army around the city, battering down its high and 
strong walls. A soldier throws a firebrand into 
the temple, and soon the beautiful structure is a 
mass of flames. The entire city is destroyed and 
the Jews are scattered to the four winds of 
heaven. I see them wandering among the nations 
of the world, without a country, without a city, 
and without a temple, a hiss and a byword where- 
ever they are. Though many of them in tolerant 
lands are the wealthiest of the citizens, many in 
other countries are subjected to every insult; and 
no matter what their wealth in any land there is 
an odium attached to the very name "Jew. " Is 
not all this reproach which they bear a just retri- 
bution for their rejection of the Son of God? 

And now we are standing at the old wall in 
Jerusalem where a few of the despised and scat- 
tered sons of Abraham have come to mourn over 
the ills of their downtrod nation. In the depths 
of their humiliation, they chant these doleful 
words, 

We sit in solitude and mourn — 

For the palace that is destroyed; 

For the walls that are overthrown; 

For our majesty that is departed; 

For our great men who lie dead; 

For the precious stones that are burned; 



162 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



For the priests who have stumbled; 
For our kings who have despised Him. 

We pray Thee, have mercy on Zion! — Gather the children 
of Jerusalem. 

Haste, haste. Redeemer of Zion! — Speak to the heart of 
Jerusalem. 

May beauty and majesty surround Zion! — Ah, turn Thy- 
self mercifully to Jerusalem. 

May the kingdom soon return to Zion! — Comfort those 
who mourn over Jerusalem. 

May peace and joy abide with Zion! — And the branch (of 
Jesse) spring up at Jerusalem. 

Thus do these people look forward to the 
Messiah, although they crucified the one and only 
one whom God promised to send to them. The 
very reason they are here weeping over their deso- 
lation is because they rejected God's only beloved 
Son. Grievously have they sinned against God, 
and grievously have they atoned for their sins. 

0, why can we not, dear reader, as we stand 
here in this scene of distress, learn the great and 
important lesson of life, that "the way of the 
transgressor is hard"? Let us seriously ask our- 
selves the solemn question, "How shall we, too, 
escape if we neglect so great salvation?" 



MOHAMMEDANISM 



EYERAL times in these meditations I have 



mentioned the religion of Mohammed, and 



now it will be profitable for us to consider 
more in detail this great system of error. The 
founder is called Mahomet as well as Mohammed, 
and his followers are called also Moslems and 
Mussulmans. This man was born 570 A. D. at 
Mecca in Arabia. When he was quite young his 
father and mother died, and he was brought up at 
first by his grandfather and then by his uncle. 
Mohammed lived at a time when a reaction had 
set in among the Arabians against the idolatry 
which was creeping in among them, and being 
filled with the reactionary spirit of the times he 
fancied that the Lord spoke to him and urged him 
to warn the people against their idolatry. 
Mohammed was an uneducated man. and it is un- 
certain whether he could read or write. He was 
about forty years old when he began to receive 
revelations, and his first converts were those of 
his own family. The sum of this doctrine which 
he was to propagate was, "There is one God; and 




164 MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 

Mohammed is his prophet." The people generally 
did not believe that Mohammed was a prophet, 
and so at the end of three years he had only forty 
converts. A poor showing for a divine messenger 
from heaven ! What a difference between the 
origin of this religion and Christianity! 

The teachings of Mahomet aroused the anger of 
a powerful party in the tribe of the Koreishites, 
who were the custodians of the sacred things in 
Mecca, the Holy City of the Arabians, and fearing 
lest they should be censured for allowing heresy 
to spring up in their midst, laid a plot to kill the 
prophet. Being warned by his followers, he fled 
from Mecca to Medina in the year 622. This year 
is called the Hegira, or Flight, and has been con- 
sidered so important in the history of Islamism 
that all their dates are reckoned from it. 

A.t Medina the prophet was received with more 
cordiality, and the success he attained there stirred 
his ambitious spirit more, and throwing aside the 
character of a mere prophet he assumed that of a 
warrior. Force now took the place of persuasion, 
and he declared that it was the will of God that 
the new doctrine should be propagated by the 
sword. Caravans were now attacked and plun- 
dered by the prophet and his followers, by which 
they were soon enriched. The terms offered to 
the unbeliever were the Koran, tribute, or the 
sword. Of course, most of the people accepted the 
Koran, for they in turn could then begin to rob 
their fellow beings under the guise of religion, and 



MOHAMMEDANISM. 



165 



have the assurance that if they died in battle their 
souls would go straight to paradise. Within ten 
years all Arabia was brought under the power of 
the prophet, not only in religion but in politics as 
well. Mohammed lived to see only a few conquests 
outside the peninsula, and died in 632, in the 63d 
year of his life. There have been many discus- 
sions concerning this man, for the former and lat- 
ter parts of his life form such strange inconsisten- 
cies. The first part of his life was spent in harm- 
less dreaming, and the last part in killing those 
who would not accept his claims. Historians say 
he was subject to some bodily or mental disorder. 
Whatever Ave may think of him, we must say that 
he has left his mark in the world, for after 1.200 
years there are hundreds of millions of people 
who believe that "There is one God; and Moham- 
med is his prophet." 

The Koran is the Mohammedan bible, and the 
orthodox believers in it teach that from all eternity 
it was written on tablets in heaven, and the angel 
Gabriel revealed it to the prophet. Mohammed 
gave it to the people little by little as it was re- 
vealed to him, and after the death of the prophet 
these parts were gathered together and arranged 
chiefly according to length. The history in the 
Koran is derived from the Old Testament mixed 
with traditions and fables from other sources. 
They say that God has revealed himself through 
four holy men, Moses, David, Jesus and Moham- 
med, the last of whom is the greatest of all. To 



166 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



the first he gave the pentateuch ; to the second, the 
Psalms; to the third, the gospels; to the fourth, 
the Koran. The Arabian Mohammedans claim to 
be descended from Abraham through Ishmael, and 
so they reverence very highly this patriarch. 

When the firmament was created, a class of be- 
ings was formed called jinn, or demons, which oc- 
cupy a rank between men and angels; some of 
them believing and some of them not. In the 
course of time many fables grew up respecting 
these demons, and belief in them is very general 
today. When these demons became arrogant, they 
were banished to the mountains surrounding the 
earth, whence they make incursions into this 
world. Adam was created on the evening of the 
sixth day ; and for that reason Friday is the Sab- 
bath of the Moslems. After the creation of Adam, 
the angel who banished the demons, refused to 
bow down before Adam, and so was himself exiled 
and is known henceforth as the devil. 

Mohammed claims that Christ prophesied of his 
coming, but that these passages have been elimi- 
nated from the gospels. He claims to be the 
Paraclete, or Comforter, mentioned in John 16 : 16. 
His system of religion was to supersede the Jewish 
and Christian, and he evaded the necessity of per- 
forming miracles to prove his doctrine by saying 
that his whole system was a miracle, and that it 
needed no special signs. After his death, however, 
miracles were attributed to him. 



168 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



The morality of the Mohammedan Arabs con- 
tains some good points. Of the duty of man to 
man, charity is the most praised in the Koran, 
and thus hospitality is much practised among 
them, especially the Beduins, the wandering 
tribes. Frugality is a virtue of the Arabs, but too 
often it descends into covetousness. Lending 
money on interest is forbidden by the Koran, but 
it is practised to a great extent, the lowest rate in 
Syria being twelve per cent. Mohammed pro- 
hibited his followers from using intoxicating 
drinks, nevertheless the upper classes drink freely, 
especially the Turks. Polygamy is sanctioned 
among them, a man being permitted to have four 
wives at a time ; but because of the expense of 
running several families in different houses and 
the trouble which results in placing several wives 
in the same house, most of the men practise 
monogamy. Very few of the men remain single. 
Divorce is easily obtained among these religionists, 
owing, no doubt, to Mohammed's personal prac- 
tices. A single word from a husband is sufficient 
to banish a wife from the house, although she still 
retains the dowry she has received from her hus- 
band. The children are taught strict obedience 
to their parents. 

The repetitions of prayers is one of the chief 
occupations of the faithful Moslems, which they 
get almost entirely from the Koran. Five times 
a day they turn their faces toward Mecca, their 
holy city, and go through their maneuvers of bow- 



MOHAMMEDANISM. 



169 



ing and kneeling and prostrating themselves. One 
might think that they would get tangled in the 
directions and sometimes get their backs to Mecca 
instead of their faces, but they prepare for this 
by carrying the compass with them. Washing be- 
fore prayers is a requirement, and every mosque 
has a tank in it for that purpose. In the desert 
where water can not be obtained, sand may be 
used for the purpose. 

The observance of the Fast of the Month 
Kamadan is another important duty of the Moslem. 
From daybreak till sunset, eating and drinking 
are absolutely forbidden, but they make up for 
the fast by a feast when night comes. As the 
Arabian year is lunar, this fast comes sometimes 
in summer, which makes it very hard on the peo- 
ple to go the whole day without water. 

Every Mohammedan is bound once in his life 
to undertake a pilgrimage to Mecca. When near 
the holy city, they lay aside their clothes, even 
their head-gear, and put on aprons and a piece 
of cloth over the left shoulder. The Kaaba at 
Mecca, which is the object of the pilgrimage, is a 
shrine supposed to have been built by Abraham 
and containing a black stone about seven inches 
long fabled to be a ruby from heaven. To kiss 
this stone is one of the greatest events in the life 
of a Moslem. Pilgrimages are also made to the 
graves of their saints, and the traveler today sees 
many shreds of cloth tied to the iron grating con- 



170 MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 

nectecl with the tomb, which have been placed there 
by the faithful pilgrims. 

Many of the Mohammedan customs are interest- 
ing. They practise circumcision as do the Jews, 
performing the operation when the boy is six or 
seven years old. Girls are generally married in 
their twelfth or thirteenth, and sometimes even in 
their tenth year. A boy does not see his bride be- 
fore the wedding day, she being selected for him 
by a friend or relative. The young man must pay 
for his wife, two-thirds of the purchase money 
going to the father of the bride and the other third 
is to be given to the wife when the husband dies 
or divorces her against her will. Before the wed- 
ding the bride is conducted through the streets 
with great ceremony. The procession is headed 
with musicians who are followed by some of the 
married relatives and friends of the bride, and then 
young girls. The bride is entirely covered by a 
shawl. The procession moves by slowly and other 
musicians bring up the rear. Afterwards the bride 
is conducted with the same ceremony to the house 
of her husband. 

A Mohammedan funeral is as interesting as a 
wedding. When one dies, the body is washed and 
then mourned over by the relatives and the pro- 
fessional mourning-women. The schoolmaster reads 
by his side a few passages from the Koran, 
the ears and nostrils of the body are filled with 
cotton, and the body is wrapped in a white or 
green sheet. The foremost persons in the pro- 



MOHAMMEDANISM. 



171 



cession are several poor and generally blind men, 
who ehant the creed ; ''There is but one God; and 
Mohammed is his prophet. God be merciful to 
him and preserve him." The coffin is carried by 
friends, after which the women relatives follow 
with dishevelled hair, sobbing aloud, sometimes ac- 
companied by the professional mourning women. 
The procession goes to the mosque where prayers 
are offered for the dead, and then moves to the 
cemetery where the body is buried with the head 
toward Mecca. The heaven to which the faithful 
Mohammedan expects to go is a sensual one, a 
place filled with flowers and fruit and everything 
delightful to the senses, and where black-eyed 
houries of ravishing beauty await the faithful Mo- 
hammedan men. 

Such in brief is the origin, belief, and customs 
of the followers of the Arabian prophet. Though 
there are some good features in the doctrines of 
Mahomet (what religious system in the world has 
not some good points?), still every nation which 
has adopted its principles is far down in the scale 
of civilization. "Many of the tenets of Islam," 
says Myers, the historian, "are most unfavorable 
to human liberty, progress, and improvement. It 
teaches fatalism, and thus paralyzes the will of 
man and discourages effort and enterprise. It re- 
moves God to an inconceivable distance from 
humanity, denies all possibility of communion and 
sympathy between the human soul and the Infinite 
Spirit, and thus represses all spiritual aspiration 



172 MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 

and growth. It consecrates sensuality, and thus 
sinks its devotees into the lowest degradation. It 
allows polygamy and puts no restraint upon di- 
vorce, and thus destroys the sanctity of the family 
life. It shuts up women in the harem, and thus 
deprives all classes of the elevating and refining 
influences of social intercourse. It permits slavery, 
and is the foster parent of despotism. It inspires 
a blind and bigoted hatred of race and creed, and 
thus puts far out of sight the salutary truth of 
the brotherhood of men. It gives a 'dead revela- 
tion' to man, a revelation in which there is no 
vitality, no power of expansion, no capacity to 
adapt itself to new human wants, and which thus 
bars every avenue of social or individual progress 
and improvement. Because of these and other only 
less prominent defects in its teachings. Islam has 
proved a blight and a curse to every race embrac- 
ing its sterile doctrines." 

Infidels have displayed the weakness of their 
cause by trying to show that Mohammedanism and 
Christianity have arisen in much the same way. 
There really is no comparison between the two sys- 
tems of religion. Jesus Christ performed miracles 
to substantiate his doctrines, as the credible gospel 
records tell us ; but Mohammed did not claim to do 
such though his followers claim some for him. The 
New Testament comes to us from eight different 
men, and their testimony unites in forming one 
great system ; the Koran came from one man, and 
could easily have been an imposture. The heaven 



MOHAMMEDANISM. 



173 



to which the Christian looks is pure and ennobling ; 
but the heaven to which the Moslem looks is sen- 
sual and degrading. As long as Mohammed used 
only persuasion, he had few followers ; Jesus never 
used anything else and had many disciples in his 
personal career. When Mohammed began to use 
the temporal sword, his following increased; the 
true disciples of Jesus only used the spiritual 
sword, the Word of God, and they soon had 
preached the gospel to every nation, aided by the 
Holy Spirit. The Arabian prophet offered 
plunder to' those who would become his disciples ; 
Jesus offered poverty and persecution to his. The 
Mohammedan movement w T as simply a temporal 
conquest with religion and plunder as an incentive ; 
the propagation of the gospel was entirely spirit- 
ual with love for all mankind as the moving prin- 
ciple. The teachings of Mahomet have been a 
curse wherever they have gone; but the teachings 
of Jesus have been a blessing. What a difference 
there is between these two great systems of relig- 
ion ! He who can say that because Mohammed 
was an impostor, therefore Jesus was, shows that 
he lacks that important quality of mind called 
comparison. Infidels are ever ready to accept the 
blessings which Christianity offers them ? but I be- 
lieve they hate it so because they are not willing 
to conform their lives to the strict morality which 
it demands. Let infidelity to the religion of Jesus 
do something for the world, and then we shall be- 
lieve that there is something in it. 



XXVI 



CHRISTIANITY OF THE FIRST 
AND TWENTIETH CEN- 
TURIES COMPARED 



benefit to the Bible student; still there are some 
things connected with such a trip which make his 
heart sad. When he thinks of the difference be- 
tween the Christianity of the twentieth century and 
that of the first, he can not but be saddened at 
the contrast. What superstition and worldliness 
he sees today; what division and confusion, when 
there should be oneness! 

The Roman Catholic Church and her elder sis- 
ters, the Greek Catholic, Coptic and Armenian 
churches, are a disgrace to the pure religion of 
Jesus Christ. I call these churches the elder sis- 
ters of the Roman, because they existed before. she 
did. Rome, of course, will deny this, but it is 
true nevertheless. There is no Roman Catholic 
Church without the pope as universal head of the 
church, and he was never anything like that until 




HILE it is true that a trip to Palestine. — 
to its hills and cities and rivers and lakes 
and valleys, — is of great interest and 



FIRST AND TWENTIETH CENTURIES. 175 

about the sixth century. These other churches 
began before that. All the early councils of the 
mass of the professed Christians were Greek and 
not Roman, and were controlled by the Greeks, 
and thus we may say that the Greek Church be- 
gan before the Roman. As the Coptic and Armen- 
ian churches began before the bishop of Rome 
had complete power over the mass of the churches, 
we must say that these are older than the Roman 
Church. And as these all hold in common many 
superstitions and corruptions from the gospel, we 
may safely call them sisters. 

The adoration of "sacred" places and things 
is one of the greatest evils in the Christian 
world. God does not recognize such things under 
the New Covenant, The performances carried on 
at Bethlehem at the spot where they say Christ was 
born, are unscriptural and repellant to the Bible 
student. The same may be said of the doings at 
the spot in Jerusalem where they say He was cruci- 
fied and buried. And so it is with so many places 
throughout Palestine. The worship of the Virgin 
Mary by the Roman Catholic Church and her sis- 
ters in superstition, is one of the most unscriptural 
practices which they have. No doubt a thousand 
times more prayers are offered to her than to God 
himself. She has become a kind of god with them. 
The pictures and statues which the traveler sees 
in the churches of these people, not only in Pales- 
tine, but throughout Europe and even America, 
make the intelligent tourist sad because of the 



176 MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 

superstition. Besides the worship of Mary, there 
is the worship of the saints. There are so many 
of these characters that the days sacred to them 
fill up the year. In every Romish church there are 
pictures and images of Mary and the different 
saints which are worshiped by the people. The 
Roman people may deny that they worship these 
images, but when they bow before them with 
clasped hands, and offer their prayers to the orig- 
inal through them, are they not doing the same 
thing that the heathen do when they pray to 
their gods through their idols? The Roman Cath- 
olic Church and her sisters -in superstition can not 
vindicate themselves from the charge of idolatry. 
And then to think that their priest claims to 
change the bread into the actual body of Christ, 
and thus that they make God out of a piece of 
dough ! This is too much for a sensible and Bible- 
loving people to believe. Besides these things, 
their priests teach that, they can forgive sins. 
What blasphemy it is for men to assume to them- 
selves that power which belongs to God alone ! 
It is because this doctrine has been imbedded so 
deeply in the minds of their people that the clergy 
has such power over them. But time fails me to 
tell of all the unscriptural and superstitious prac- 
tices of the Roman and kindred churches. When 
one sees their practices in their native soil, and 
contrasts them with the teachings of those Chris- 
tians who protest against them, he is led to exclaim. 
"0 Protestantism, with all thy faults, I love thee 



FIRST AND TWENTIETH CENTURIES. 177 

still ! ' ' What a difference there is between Roman- 
ism and the Christianity of the first century! 

But not only do we see a contrast between the 
Christianity of Romanism and that of the New 
Testament, but we see also a great difference be- 
tween our loved Protestantism and the teachings 
of Christ as found in the New Covenant. The 
principles of Romanism and Protestantism are 
different in this respect that the former claims to 
follow tradition as well as the Bible, while the lat- 
ter claims to follow the Bible alone. But the seri- 
ous question is, Are we Protestants following the 
Bible as we claim to, and have we the authority of 
Christ for all that we are doing? The traditions 
of Rome have had a great influence on Protestant- 
ism, much more than we think. When the Re- 
formers came out of ' ' Babylon, ' ' they brought with 
them many of the practices they learned there. 
They did, perhaps, the very best they could under 
the circumstances, but there were some things they 
learned which they could not unlearn. Where do 
we get the distinction between clergy and laity ? 
If this is taught in the New Testament, where can 
it be found? Where do we find that God gave the 
authority to uninspired men to meet in councils, 
synods, general assemblies, conferences, associa- 
tions and conventions, to make laws to govern the 
people ? Inspired men met in a council in apostolic 
times, but there is a wide difference between their 
decisions and those of a company of uninspired 
men. Did not God give us the New Testament as 



178 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



a perfect law book for all time ? What right, then, 
have we to make other laws? These are serious 
questions for us to ask ourselves. And do not the 
different denominations have forms of church gov- 
ernment which are different from that portrayed in 
the New Testament? What right have we to make 
the change? Our church worship and work, are 
they, too ; carried on according to the pattern of 
the apostolic church? Where did we get the ob- 
servance of Christmas and Easter? Did we not 
get them from the great apostasy from the Word 
of God, and are they not festivals which are a 
mixture of heathenism, Judaism and Christianity? 
Did Christ and the apostles practise infant bap- 
tism, or did we get that, too, from Rome? Did 
not the apostolic church practise immersion only, 
and did not even the Roman Catholic Church 
practise it until the thirteenth century? Have we 
a right to change the baptism which Christ com- 
manded? Did the New Testament church ha\ T e in- 
strumental music in its worship ; and if not, have 
we a right to add that and other things to the 
simple singing which He commands, and turn the 
worship of God into a concert? Should Christians 
today raise money by church fairs, festivals, rum- 
mage sales, cantatas^ and many other such things? 
Are buying and selling and playing and begging 
from the world, part of the religion of Jesus? Are 
all these practices warranted by Christ, and are we 
following him when we mix them with what he has 
taught? He warns us against departures from his 



FIRST AND TWENTIETH CENTURIES. 



179 



Word by saying, "In vain do they worship me, 
teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men." 
(Matt. 15: 9.) 

The earnest man who wants to please his Lord, 
asks the question, How may I know how to select 
the truth from all the teachings and practices of 
the religious people about me? Our only answer 
can be. Go to the New Testament and measure all 
things by it. Let us, then, for a few moments, go 
to the New Covenant to see what it says about the 
Church which Christ established. 

Its Name. — Christ said, "L T pon this rock I will 
build my Church," (Matt. 16: 18). and Paul 
speaks of the "churches [congregations] of 
Christ," (Rom. 16: 16). This institution is also 
called "Church of God," (1 Cor. 1:2); "Church 
of the Firstborn," (Heb. 12: 23). The people 
who compose this church are called Christians and 
disciples, (Acts 11: 26); saints, (1 Cor. 1 : 2); 
brethren, (1 Cor. 1: 26). All names not found in 
the Scripture are human and cause division, hence 
they should not be worn by Christians. 

Its Creed. — The teachings of Christ and his in- 
spired apostles as found in the New Testament con- 
stitute its creed, or belief. To mix our own notions 
and the traditions of men with the teachings of 
Christ is to render our worship vain, for God says 
through Christ, ' ' In vain do they worship me, 
teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men." 
(Matt. 15: 9. R. V.) 



180 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



Entrance into It.— "Except one be born of water 
and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of 
God." (John 3: 5.) "Having been begotten again, 
not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, 
through the word of God which liveth and 
abideth." (1 Pet. 1: 23.) To be begotten by the 
word of God, and to be born, or begotten, by the 
Spirit, are the same. All commentators of any 
note say that to be born of water refers to baptism. 
When we permit the word of God which comes by 
the Spirit of God to sink into our hearts producing 
faith and repentance, we have been begotten again, 
but our birth is not yet complete. When we have 
gone on in our obedience and been baptized, then 
it is that our birth is completed and we have been 
born of water and the Spirit, and have come into 
the kingdom, or Church of God. Paul asks, "Are 
ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into 
Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?" (Horn. 
6:3); and again, "For as many of you as were 
baptized into Christ, did put on Christ." (Gal. 3: 
27.) These scriptures teach us that baptism, pre- 
ceded by faith and repentance, is the act which 
brings us into Christ. But what is baptism? Bi- 
ble baptism requires "much water," (John 3 : 23) ; 
going "down into the water," (Acts 8: 38) ; burial, 
(Rom. 6:4; Col. 2: 12) ; coming "up out of the 
water," (Acts 8: 39). Jesus says that we must be 
born of water. Can a babe be born of a mother 
smaller than itself ? Neither can we be born of a 
body of water smaller than ourselves. We come 



FIRST AND TWENTIETH CENTURIES. 181 



out of the water into the spiritual world very much 
as we come into the natural world. 

Its government.— Jesus Christ is absolute King 
and the New Testament is his law book. The Old 
Testament is inspired of God, but is not a book of 
authority for Christians. Christ has ordained that 
elders, called also overseers and bishops, look after 
the local congregations, (1 Tim. 3: 1-7; Titus 1: 
5-9; Acts 20: 28); and that deacons be servants 
of the churches, (Acts 6 : 1 Tim. 3 : 8-10) . Evange- 
lists are to go from place to place preaching the 
gospel. The churches of the New Testament were 
not under the councils, associations, synods, general 
assemblies and conferences of uninspired men, but 
under the teaching of the inspired apostles. Their 
church government was congregational. The pastor 
system in which one man rules the congregation 
instead of the elders, was unknown to the New 
Testament. 

Its ^YorJc. — The work of Christ's Church consists 
in helping its own poor and sick, in doing good 
unto all men, and in advancing the gospel. The aid 
work of the New Testament Church was done as 
individual Christians, (Acts 9: 36-12; Gal. 6: 10) ; 
and as congregations, (Acts 11: 27-30). The 
gospel was preached in two ways. — all true Chris- 
tians preached the gospel in private, trying to save 
others besides themselves, (Acts 8:4); and evan- 
gelists publicly proclaimed the gospel, living on 
the voluntary contributions of the brethren and 
churches, (1 Cor. 9: 11; Phil. 4: 14-16). The early 



182 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



Christians had no aid societies to do the work of 
helping the poor and sick, which every Christian 
should be interested in; they did not have any 
Endeavor societies to train young people, for 
parents were to bring up their children in the 
nurture and admonition of the Lord, and when 
they became Christians they came under the watch- 
ful care of the elders of the congregations as well 
as their parents; they had no missionary societies 
to preach the gospel, for every Christian was to do 
all he could for the spread of the gospel in public 
or private. These societies are organizations dif- 
ferent from the Church, though they are attached 
to it, for they have different laws, treasuries, of- 
ficers, etc. The truth that a person who has not 
been baptized may belong to the C. E. Society, 
shows that it is different from the church. Those 
who work in these societies go contrary to that 
scripture which says, "Unto him [God] be glory 
in the church." (Eph. 3: 21.) 

Its Worship.— The early Christians "continued 
stedfastly in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, 
in the breaking of bread and the prayers," they 
were to teach and admonish "one another with 
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing 
with grace in your hearts unto God." (Acts 2: 
42; Col. 3: 17.) They had no organs, pianos, 
fiddles, horns, etc., to make music in their wor- 
ship, for all these make a kind of music which 
God has not commanded, and hence such music is 
an addition to God's Word. 



FIRST AND TWENTIETH CENTURIES. 



183 



Its Finances. — Paul commanded Christians to 
give, upon the first day of the week, freely and 
liberally, (1 Cor. 16: 1, 2; 2 Cor. 8: 9.) They did 
not raise money by festivals, "Old Maids' Con- 
ventions," "Distric Sculs, " cantatas, Santa Clans 
performances, Tom Thumb weddings, ankle shows, 
box suppers, rafflings, etc., and a hundred other 
devices used by the religious world generally. 

As we now turn our eyes from the church of the 
first century to that of the twentieth, we see a 
great difference; and the question comes to us, 
Does God endorse this difference? Many say that 
he does, and that it matters not whether we serve 
Him according to the New Testament or not. They 
tell us that we must keep up with the times in 
religious affairs just as we do in temporal mat- 
ters. If the religion of Jesus were an evolution 
like modes of travel, farming, etc., and not a per- 
fect revelation, we might conclude that there is 
something in such reasoning; but there are too 
many places in God's Word where he has warned 
us against departures from his laws. It is these 
departures which have produced the divisions 
among the followers of Jesus. We are not divided 
over what is in the Bible, but over what is not 
there. If we would permit the New Testament 
to explain itself, and do those things and only 
those things which the Lord enjoins, we should all 
be one as he commanded his disciples to be. In 
teaching and practising things unauthorized by 
God's Word, we are not only doing that which 



184 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



is producing and perpetuating division, but we 
are placing ourselves under the anathema of 
heaven. Paul says concerning the simplicity that 
is in Christ, the very thing which we have just 
portrayed from the New Testament, "I fear, lest 
by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve in his 
craftiness, your minds should be corrupted from 
the simplicity and the purity that is toward 
Christ," (2 Cor. 11: 3.) With such a warning 
as this from the pen of the inspired Paul, how 
can we truly say that it matters not whether we 
do just what the Lord has commanded and in the 
way he has enjoined? When the Galatian breth- 
ren mixed the old law with the gospel, Paul said 
they were teaching a perverted gospel, and uttered 
then these awful words, "Though we, or an angel 
from heaven, should preach unto you any gospel 
other than that which we preached unto you, let 
him be anathema. As we said before, so say I 
now again. If any man preacheth unto you any 
gospel other than that ye received, let him be 
anathema." (Gal. 1: 8, 9.) What would Paul 
say to you and me today, if we bring over into 
our worship some of David's customs, or bring in 
from the world many of its practices? Do we 
not rest under the same condemnation as those 
Galatian brethren? When we turn to the last 
chapter of the last book of the Bible and the last 
words, we find this woe pronounced upon those 
who change in any wise the teachings of Christ, 
"If any man shall add unto them [the Scriptures] 



FIRST AND TWENTIETH CENTURIES. 185 

God shall add unto him the plagues which are 
written in this book; and if any man shall take 
away from the words of the books of this prophecy, 
God shall take away his part from the tree of life, 
and out of the holy city, which are written in this 
book." (Rev. 22:18, 19.) Thus the last words 
of God's revelation to man are a warning against 
the very thing of departing from God's plan, 
which so many today consider such a small thing 
to do. Oh, my eternity-bound friend, let us dili- 
gently study God's Word that we may know just 
what he requires of us, and then let us do it just 
as he has commanded, so that he will not charge 
to us this unholy division among his people and 
will not condemn us in the last great day because 
we have corrupted the gospel of Christ. 



XXVII 

THE NEW JERUSALEM 

OUR VISIT to the land of our Lord and to 
the city from which our religion came is 
about to end, and now we are looking for 
the last time upon these scenes so often mentioned 
in sacred history. "We have sailed upon the lake 
upon which our Savior sailed, and upon which he 
walked to his disciples when the waves were 
troubled. We have stood upon the banks of the 
Jordan where John preached, and where he bap- 
tized the Son of God. We have climbed to the 
tops of hills and mountains, and looked over the 
same land over which the inspired prophets and 
apostles looked, so many ages ago. We have 
walked in the valleys and by the little streams 
and wells mentioned so many times in sacred lore ; 
and we have picked our way among the ruins of 
great and mighty cities of former days. And now. 
as we are about to take our journey toward the 
west, we gaze in solemn meditation for a few mo- 
ments upon these historic scenes. 

Jerusalem lies before me with its walls and 
valleys and narrow streets and buildings as of 



THE NEW JERUSALEM. 



187 



yore. I see the city as she has been, the city of 
one nation, the descendants of Abraham. I see 
the throne of David in the midst of the city, and 
his children for hundreds of years swaying the 
sceptre over this wonderful people. I see the 
temple which Solomon built, in all its beauty and 
magnificence. I behold with sad thoughts the 
wickedness among the people of this city. Liars 
and thieves and murderers and reprobates of all 
kinds are to be found in this sacred place. I see 
the people working while it is day, but when night 
comes they hide away in their homes, for they 
have no light to guide them in their toil. An op- 
posing army comes, surrounds the city, beats down 
the walls, kills the young men, and carries the 
maidens away into captivity with the gold and 
silver they can find. I see the pestilence coming 
down upon the people, carrying with it greater 
dismay than the sword of the enemy and working 
greater destruction without a battle. I weep as 
I think of the hearts that have been broken here 
of fathers and mothers and sons and daughters 
and husbands and wives, in the ages that are gone. 
I look with sadness upon the millions of this city 
who in ages past have gathered at the beds of dying- 
friends and wept as the spirits of their loved ones 
took their flight. These are some of the sad events 
which have happened here in the city of J erusalem ; 
and what has happened here has happened in all 
cities of antiquity and in all cities of modern times. 



188 MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 

As I gaze and muse, I lift my eyes and see 
another city, so different from the one which lies 
before me now. It is so large!— even beyond the 
comprehension of finite man. It is a city, not for 
one but for all the nations of the world. There 
is no sin there, no pride nor greed nor tyranny,— 
but all is just and pure and good. The throne 
there is not the throne of a mortal man, but the 
throne of Him who is from everlasting to ever- 
lasting—God. There is no temple there, but 
Christ and God are the temple thereof. There 
is no darkness there, no night, for the Lord God 
shall be their light. No more war, for Satan and 
his army are banished into the lake of fire pre- 
pared for them from the beginning. No pestilence 
there to sweep the blessed away, but they shall 
live forever and forever. No heartaches there, 
nor tears nor pain nor death, for the things of sin- 
ful earth have passed away. 

There the wicked have ceased from troubling, 
And the weary are at rest. 

"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for 
the first heaven and the first earth are passed 
away. * * And I saw the holy city, new 
Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, 
made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. 
And I heard a great voice out of the throne, say- 
ing, Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, 
and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his 
peoples, and God himself shall be with them, and 



190 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



be their God. And he shall wipe away every tear 
from their eyes; and death shall be no more; 
neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor 
pain, any more; for the first things are passed 
away. * * * He that overcometh shall in- 
herit these things; and I shall be his God. and he 
shall be my son. But for the fearful, and unbe- 
lieving, and abominable, and murderers, and forni- 
cators, and socerers, and all liars, their part shall 
be in the lake that burneth with fire and brim- 
stone; which is the second death. # * And 
the twelve gates are twelve pearls; each one of the 
several gates was of one pearl ; and the street of 
the city was pure gold, as it were transparent 
glass. And I saw no temple therein; for the Lord 
God the Almighty, and the Lamb, are the temple 
thereof. And the city hath no need of the sun, 
neither of the moon, to shine upon it ; for the 
glory of God did lighten it, and the lamp thereof 
is the Lamb. * * ■ * And there shall in no 
wise enter into it anything unclean, or he that 
maketh an abomination and a lie; but only they 
that are written in the Lamb's book of life. And 
he showed me a river of water of life, bright as 
crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and 
of the Lamb, in the midst of the street thereof. 
And on this side of the river and on that, was 
the tree of life, bearing twelve manner of fruits, 
yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of 
the tree were for the healing of the nations. And 
there shall be no curse any more ; and the throne 



THE NEW JERUSALEM. 191 

of God and of the Lamb shall be therein ; and his 
servants shall serve him ; and they shall see his 
face; and his name shall be on their foreheads. 
And there shall be night no more; and they need 
no light of lamp, neither light of sun ; for the Lord 
God shall give them light ; and they shall reign for 
ever and ever. * * * Blessed are they 
that wash their robes, that they may have the right 
to come to the tree of life, and may enter in by 
the gates into the city. Without are the dogs, 
and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the 
murderers, and every one that loveth and maketh 
a lie." 

Beautiful Zion built above — 
Beautiful city that I love ; 
Beautiful gates of pearly white; 
Beautiful temple — God its light! 
He was was slain on Calvary 
Opens those pearly gates to me. 

Beautiful heaven, where all is light, 
Beautiful angels clothed in white, 
Beautiful strains that never tire, 
Beautiful harps through all the choir! 
There shall I join the chorus sweet, 
Worshiping at the Savior's feet. 

Beautiful crowns on every brow, 
Beautiful palms the conquerors show, 
Beautiful robes the ransomed wear, 
Beautiful all who enter there! 
Thither I press with eager feet : 
There shall my rest be long and sweet. 



192 



MEDITATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS. 



Beautiful throne for Christ our King; 
Beautiful songs the angels sing; 
Beautiful rest — all wanderings cease; 
Beautiful home of perfect peace! 
There shall my eyes the Savior see: 
Haste to this heavenly home with me. 




DEC 30 1910 



mm 



One copy del. to Cat. Div. 



^ 191© 



